What Now?
by SS Dispatch
Summary: (Dead Men Tell No Tales Spoilers!) Carina now lives at the Turner residence, Elizabeth is working on a secret she has not disclosed to anyone, and Will is suspicious of an enemy's return. Indeed, said enemy has returned and is out for blood and the ultimate revenge. How will the Turner family respond and who might join them along the way?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! If you're new here, I hope you enjoy and take time to review, favorite, or follow. If you have read this before, I would recommend rereading it, as a few parts have been removed and a few have been added.**

* * *

Elizabeth and Will Turner were finally at peace again, reunited permanently. He had returned only twelve hours ago, and the two had not parted at all since then. At present, they were both sitting on the sand, staring out at sea. Henry and Carina were assumed to be sleeping back at home. Earlier that day, Elizabeth had casually suggested that Henry show Carina the sights of Port Royale to give her plenty of alone time with her husband. When the two had returned, Will and Elizabeth took a walk around the fields by the lighthouse. Now, with the moon high in the sky, they found themselves sprawled on the same beach where they had spent their honeymoon.

They were fully clothed once more, and Elizabeth was tucked under his arm and looking up at the stars with him. "Do you believe this is real?"

"Not completely."

"Me neither." She admitted. "But I'm a little more convinced than I was when I first saw you. That was absolutely surreal. This … this feels more real." She said as she traced a nonsense pattern on his thigh. He smiled softly, "I'm slowly being reassured that it is. That I'm not leaving at sunset."

"Don't worry about that, I won't let you leave."

"I never want to leave again." He admitted. "I could use some time away from sea."

"Please do take a break from sailing. I don't want you or Henry to leave me again anytime soon." She implored in earnest, turning to look over at her husband. He kissed her forehead delicately. "I promise you, we won't leave you again so soon. Although, you may have a harder time convincing Henry."

"Oh, I'll just use mother's guilt, it shouldn't be too hard after that." She said honestly. This brought a laugh out of Will, and it was music to her ears. She curled closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder. They both turned their gaze to the dim horizon line. The sky was lightening ever so slightly. "So, what now?" Elizabeth asked curiously. She had her own project that she had been working on since Henry left home for the sea back when he was twelve, but she was not at liberty to disclose it to her family just yet. She wondered, however, what her sea-loving men were going to do with themselves. "I'm not sure. I haven't given it much thought." Will answered truthfully, "Perhaps I can help around the docks. The only thing I'm truly good at any more is working with ships. I couldn't go back to work with the blacksmith if I wanted to, all of that has gone from my memory."

"But perhaps that's what Henry can do." Elizabeth suggested without much thought to it.

"That's – actually a really good idea." Will agreed. "He could certainly fare well with a better understanding of the sword."

"Do you think so? What use may we have of swords ever again?"

"Better safe than sorry." Will said plainly, not having any specific reason for hoping that Henry became the blacksmith's apprentice.

"Fair enough."

"And what about you, Mrs. Turner?" He asked, still taking a great deal of joy in saying her name. It had seemed like eons ago that he had refused to even address her by her first name, and now she had his name.

Elizabeth still had no intent to tell him what she was up to, he would know when she was ready for him to know. "Oh, I'm just going to enjoy your company again. Although, I suppose I might get to know Carina."

"Considering there's a good chance she's going to be our daughter some day?"

The thought had actually not occurred to Elizabeth, "You think they're that smitten with each other?"

"Just a guess I suppose." Will ventured. A brief silence fell between them in the cool air. Neither minded this. One would think that after nearly ten years of having been apart, they would never be able to stop talking. But they were able to understand each other without words at times, and much of the past ten years that Will had missed had been quickly accounted to him by his son and wife. The catching up phase of his return was mostly in the form of physically reconnecting with his true love. But soon that phase would be ending, and his return was soon going to be normal and no longer a novelty or unbelievable. Elizabeth would always believe it to be a blessing, but the fanfare would wear off with time. "Should we head home?" He asked softly after a while. Elizabeth shook her head, despite the progressive paling of the night sky. "No, not yet. Let's stay and watch the sun rise together." He had no objections, and the two remained on the beach until the sun had fully risen. They celebrated the sun's long awaited return with a tender kiss.

* * *

 _Two Weeks Later_

Somehow, despite her best intentions, Elizabeth had barely exchanged any words with Carina in a fortnight. She had tried to find time to speak with her on numerous occasions, but always found herself interrupted in some way. But now that Henry had found his apprenticeship with the blacksmith and Will had begun work at the docks repairing ships, Elizabeth finally found time to talk to her. It was mid-morning when she headed downstairs after dressing. She half expected Carina to still be asleep, but found her in front of the cold fireplace in the sitting room, occupying a single plush maroon chair. She appeared to be staring off into the space between the fireplace and the window.

Elizabeth sat in the chair beside her, looking her over. Carina sat up a bit straighter when she noticed Elizabeth had joined her, looking over and smiling at her. But despite this smile, Elizabeth could tell she was not doing well. Her eyes were darkened, almost hollow. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you properly. I apologize for that." Elizabeth said kindly.

"Please, there's no need to apologize. You haven't seen your husband in years. I can hardly blame you for needing to catch up with him these past couple of weeks." Carina waved it off with little concern. She had truthfully been terrified to get to know Henry's mother. She was pretty certain Will liked her enough. But Will liked her because he knew that Carina was half of the reason he was back with his family. But Elizabeth didn't know that yet. Nobody had had a chance to tell Mrs. Turner what actually happened on their adventure to save Will.

"Well, thank you. I'm glad you understand." Elizabeth sighed softly, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Not at all," Carina assured.

"How did you end up helping Henry? I've hardly heard anything about how Will was saved. All I know is that the trident was broken and that's what did it, but how it came to be found, much less broken, I'm still not sure about."

Carina sighed softly, folding her hands in her lap and looking at the floor, "Great question. It's really kind of a long story."

"I would love to hear it." Elizabeth countered. She turned her chair a bit to better face Carina and made herself comfortable. With no further hesitation, Carina proceeded to tell Elizabeth the majority of the story. Elizabeth didn't interrupt, didn't look away, and paid the fullest attention. It was hard to not get alarmed at the stories. She was suppressing her motherly concern every time that Henry's life was jeopardized in the story. Finally, Carina caught up to when Will returned.

"So," Elizabeth finally said when Carina concluded, "Your name is Carina Barbossa then?" Carina nodded quietly, not looking up at her. "I don't know if you know this," Elizabeth started, "But Barbossa was the one that married Will and I."

Carina looked up at Elizabeth in shock, "You knew my father?"

This made her laugh, "Oh, yes, I knew him. Almost as well as I knew Jack. I suppose nobody could have told you my stories. I stopped telling Henry stories when he got too interested in the sea myths. But, if you'd like, I can tell you stories about your father."

Carina smiled weakly, "That would be incredible. I really …" She stopped, trying not to get too emotional. The image of her father falling to his death was popping into her mind's eye. She tried her best to wash it away. "Yes. Please. I want to know more about him."

Elizabeth was more than eager to share stories with her. She had been so surprised to hear that Carina was Barbossa's daughter. "The first thing you need to know about your father is that, like any other pirate, he was neither bad or good. He died to save you, but he's also done some pretty idiotic things. Just like Will. Just like Jack. It's part of piracy." The last thing she wanted was to completely ruin Carina's world by telling her the truth. "I met your father when I was just a bit younger than yourself, actually. He was terrifying. The giant hat, the scraggly beard, and the creepy little monkey on his shoulder.

"I had a pirate's medallion that I knew he wanted at the time. I threatened to toss it overboard, so he agreed to make a deal with me. I should have known better than to make a deal with a pirate, but I did it anyway. Naturally it was all a trick. He kept attacking the town despite our agreement, and kept me as his prisoner. That night, he told me – or perhaps warned me – that the medallion I had was part of a curse that he and his crew were under."

"He was cursed?" Carina said in surprise. If he had been cursed, why hadn't the trident broken it? Could it have saved his life? No, this didn't make any sense.

"Yes, at that time. Anyway, he eventually had me walk the plank and I was left on an island to die with Jack Sparrow. Which, as you can imagine, was terrible."

"I was stuck on an island with him for a few hours and it was unbearable. And I wasn't even stuck by myself with him!" Carina laughed. She really was not a big fan of the notorious Jack Sparrow. She was grateful for the part he played in their adventure, but he did get on her nerves. She was grateful to know she was not the only one.

"It's alright, I set all of his alcohol on fire the next day."

Carina looked at her with wide eyes, "You set his rum on fire?" She said in total shock. She had assumed that Elizabeth was a snooty socialite, given her general appearance. But it would appear that Mrs. Turner was a lot more adventurous than she had expected her to be.

"Of course I did." Elizabeth grinned, remembering the stupid look on Jack's face. "I did what any smart woman would do. I signaled for help. And of course it worked!" She carried on the story, having to fill in the details here and there. Finally, she reached the part she was a bit nervous to tell Carina about, "He was going to kill Will. They were going to cut his throat to end their curse. But thanks in part to Jack's tricks, he was able to get away before that could happen. Jack and Barbossa were relentlessly fighting back and forth. I really did not know who I could trust besides Will. I still don't trust Jack, to be perfectly honest. To be fair, he doesn't trust me either." She stopped herself from spoiling what came later in the narrative, "Anyway, eventually it ended with all the medallions being returned, Will cut his hand and let his blood fall on them. The curse was broken. But Jack had also just shot Barbossa straight in the heart at the same time. And I watched him fall to his death."

"That's impossible!" Carina said, suddenly stricken with fear. One of them had to be wrong. They could not both have watched him die. It wasn't possible. Nobody could die twice, science said so.

"Oh, trust me. He was dead. Jack made sure of it. He wanted his revenge and he got it." Elizabeth said, smiling knowingly.

"No, no, no. I watched him die. You can't die twice."

"He did." Elizabeth assured. "Relax, I'll explain. But if I'm to keep this up, I'm going to need some tea." She got up and wandered into the kitchen to fill a pot with water. She continued her story, talking as she set the pot up in the fireplace and started a fire beneath it. She left out a great deal of details in this particular telling, knowing that Carina mostly cared about Barbossa and his involvement in their history. "I left Jack to the kraken. Hence why he can't trust me."

"Again, he could not have died."

"Don't worry, it'll all make sense later." Elizabeth assured, stoking the flames a bit. "We found ourselves with Tia Dalma. I felt horrendous." A pain resurrected in her chest. Even after all this time, she still was not proud of having killed Jack, even though she knew full well that it had been for the best. "I wanted to be freed of this guilt. So when Tia Dalma offered a journey to the ends of the earth, to Davy Jones' Locker, to save him … I immediately agreed to do it. And that was when Barbossa came down the stairs."

"Not possible." Carina insisted.

Elizabeth shook her head, taking the now boiling pot of water off the fire. She carefully filled the cups with small scoops of loose tea, followed by the water. "You know, for someone that saw a ghost pirate herself, you seem oddly doubtful of magic."

"I'm sorry, it's the scientist in me. I don't believe what I can't see." Carina said, softening her tone to sound a little less accusatory.

Elizabeth just smiled as she handed Carina a cup of tea, "You cannot see the stars in the daytime or on a cloudy night. But they're still there."

Carina took the cup and looked up at Elizabeth. She was almost certain that Henry had said the exact same thing to her once before. "Alright, so how was he alive?"

"Tia Dalma was not just an obeah woman," Elizabeth explained, gently blowing on the hot tea in her cup, "She was, and still is, the sea goddess, Calypso. Trapped as a human. She's free now. But she still possessed a great deal of power in her human form. And she used this power to bring Barbossa back from the dead. But because Jack's soul was trapped in limbo, we had to make our way into the Locker to get him out. Which we barely managed to do."

Carina had forgotten her tea before she had even take a sip, "You really travelled to the Locker? Is that like the underworld or something?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No. Purgatory. It was terrible. I saw my … nothing. It was just a generally unpleasant time. Will was mad with me, I was angry at myself." She couldn't think about it much longer. She took a sip of tea to calm her nerves. "It was shortly thereafter that we found ourselves in the midst of a war with the East India Trading company. It was in the middle of a hurricane and this war that Barbossa married Will and I. It was really quite funny, actually. He was very annoyed at us for making him do it while he was taking on Jones' crew." Carina looked down at her tea, sipping it quietly as she listened closely. "I'll always be grateful to him for doing that for us. I think despite the fact that he had tried to kill both of us in the past, he rooted for us. He was truly an amazing captain, and a good man in the end. I wish you could have had more time with him."

Carina's hand started trembling, the tea in the cup rippling. "So do I." She choked out. She had had on and off periods of intense sorrow the past couple of weeks. Henry had been there for her through most of these incidents. But she had tried very hard to avoid thinking of her pain around Henry's parents. She didn't want them to think she was a weak willed, overly emotional woman. That was not who she was. Carina did not notice that Elizabeth had set her own cup down. She did, however, notice when Elizabeth was suddenly standing beside her, carefully taking the cup out of Carina's hands before she spilled. "I lost my father when I was your age." She said at a barely audible whisper.

Carina looked up at her, begging silently for her to tell her more. Elizabeth let out a quiet sigh. She grabbed the small footstool in front of her chair and pulled it over in front of Carina and sat down on it. She folded her hands and looked up at the young girl. "In the Locker, we saw a stream of boats drifting by us. They were the souls that had died at sea, that were meant to be ferried by Davy Jones. But he had neglected his duty, so the souls drifted through the Locker in corporeal forms. We all watched them float past us. That was when I spotted my father in one of the boats. At first I thought we had somehow made it back to the other side. But, of course, we hadn't. Our enemy had tricked him, and it ultimately lead to his death. I cast him a line, praying that there was some way that he would be able to grab hold and come aboard and make his way back with us. But he didn't even seem to see it. He knew he could not come back. But I refused to accept it. I nearly launched myself off the ship. Will was the only one who was able to grab me and pull me back. I'm pretty certain now that if I had gotten in the water I never would have escaped the Locker."

Carina let a moment of silence fall between them, out of respect. It was comforting to know that she was not totally alone in this pain. While they had not had the same experience by any means, it was still the same sting of losing a father. "How did you — get through the pain of losing him?" Carina asked quietly.

Elizabeth shrugged and smiled weakly, "Well, I got my revenge on his murderer. But, truthfully, that didn't help a great deal. My grief was more or less overshadowed by the grief I felt shortly thereafter of losing Will. Eventually, the pain got weaker. Time heals all wounds. Supposedly." She paused, glancing at Carina. She knew that this advice was of no real help to the young woman. She reached out and took Carina's hand. Carina looked at her curiously, wondering why. "The pain will always be there. But I promise you, it will hurt less eventually. But if you ever need someone to talk to, well, you know where to find me." She squeezed Carina's hand reassuringly before letting go and stepping off into the kitchen.

Carina shut her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. It was a huge weight off her shoulders to know that Elizabeth was not the person she had expected her to be. Perhaps there was hope yet that Mrs. Turner could like Carina.

* * *

 _Later, at Midnight_

Carina had been sleeping soundly in her bed in the spare room of the Turner residence when there was a small sound that woke her. It was the sound of a floorboard squeaking. She sat up and looked about her dark room. The door was open and a man stood at the foot of her bed and had clearly been in the midst of stepping toward her. She gasped and nearly screamed, but Henry had the common sense to rush forward and cover her mouth before she could. "It's just me," He whispered. She relaxed instantly and he let go of her. "Henry, what are you doing?" She whispered harshly.

He smiled brightly, "Having fun. Come on, let's go."

"Go where?"

"Out where my parents can't hear us?" He said as if it had been perfectly obvious. He stood and held out his hand to her. She glanced up at him, seeming a bit apprehensive before finally taking his hand and getting out of bed. Her nightgown skirted her ankles as they carefully and quietly headed outside. When her bare feet first fell into the dewy grass she couldn't help but let out a high-pitched squeak of surprise. It was much colder than she had expected. "Shh, you might wake them. We're not far enough out yet." Henry reminded her with a little laugh. They remained quiet until the house was far off in the distance and they were close to the lighthouse. Henry let out a sigh, "Alright," He spoke at a normal volume, "We should be clear."

"Henry, why are you doing this?" Carina immediately asked as they continued walking.

"I never get to see you. I'm always working, and then when I come home we're around my family. I never get a chance to see you in private. I couldn't sleep for thinking about you, so I thought this was the best solution." He explained, reaching out and taking her hand in his.

Carina couldn't help but smile the slightest bit. She sometimes wondered if he was too good for her. She squeezed his hand. It said all she needed to say without words.

"Hey, you want to race?" He suggested with a raised eyebrow. She gave him a curious look, but before she could answer he had let go of her hand and started for the hill. She picked up her skirt a bit and started running, but he had already had a lead and started running faster than her. The wind whipped her hair out of her face and she couldn't help but laugh, her laughter disappearing into the wind. She panted for breath as she tried to race him in the moonlight. She had not expected him to be so playful. She got a burst of energy and managed to increase her speed just enough to edge out past him and headed up the hill and made it to the top of the hill first. She bent slightly, hands on her knees to catch her breath as Henry came up beside her — equally out of breath.

"You're … awful." She said between heavy breaths.

"Yeah … I know … but … you love me." Henry said as he collapsed onto the ground on his back. He looked up at the stars. She looked down at him in surprise. They hadn't used the "L" word before, and it had taken her off guard. He patted the ground beside him, "Sit." She slowly eased down onto the grass beside him, but did not lay down and look up the sky like he did. She looked down at him instead. "Henry," She started, but couldn't complete the thought. Her mind had drawn a total blank. He looked up at her and realized how stunned she appeared. "What's wrong?" She stared at him as if it was blatantly obvious. It took a moment for it to dawn on him. His cheeks flushed, "Oh! I – I hadn't meant to say that. It just …"

"You think I love you?" Carina said, her voice shaking unnoticeably.

"I – I don't know. Do you?" He had not realized until that very moment just how anxious he was to know her true feelings for him. Despite this eagerness to know, he was also terrified.

Carina felt a warmth flood her cheeks as well. Neither could see each other's blushes through the shadowy night. She tried to formulate a logical definition of love for herself. She had never had cause to think of it before. No man had ever paid mind to her, not the way Henry did. She thought of the only love she had ever felt before, that for her father. The love she had for him before she even knew who he was, and the agony of heartbreak as he sacrificed himself for her. She wondered how she would react if Henry's life was in jeopardy. The thought terrified her. She wondered how she may feel if, like Elizabeth, she was only able to see him once every ten years. The thought was nearly as painful. But she knew that she could have waited her whole life for him. She didn't feel her heart flutter like women in cheap romances did. She let out a breath of relief. She knew just how she felt for him. There was no questioning it. Henry watched as she slowly laid down beside him, keeping her eyes on his. He turned onto his side to better face her and she rested a hand on his cheek and smiled. "Yes. I do love you Henry Turner." She said confidently.

Rather than thinking first and returning the expression of love, Henry was overwhelmed with his own joy and impulsively leaned in to kiss her. Her lips curled up in a small smile as she returned the kiss. She could kiss him for hours without a care in the world. After a while, he did finally pull away and murmur, "I just realized, I forgot to say it back."

"That's alright. Actions speak louder than words." She reminded him.

"Nonetheless." He whispered, "I love you too Carina Barbossa."

She gazed up at him. She loved the gleam in his eyes. After one more bout of affection, the two fell back onto the grass, gazing up at the stars and moon above them.

"Where are you?" He asked quietly.

She looked around for a moment, and quickly pointed out the brightest star, "There."

"Beautiful, as always." Henry said, looking up at the star with a silly grin. She looked over at him and couldn't help but lean over to kiss his jaw.

The stars were quickly forgotten about and the young lovers became lost in each other.

* * *

 _Before dawn_

It was the loud hooting of a dove in the distance that caught their attention. Carina pulled away from Henry and looked up at the sky, her eyes narrowed as she examined the stars. "Henry, it's getting close to dawn. We should go." Indeed it was very close to the sunrise, and he was going to be expected at work very shortly. He would be exhausted all day, but he didn't care that much. He was more than happy to have a weary day on the job if it meant he was able to spend the night with his love.

They headed back toward the house. As they got close to the back door Henry squeezed Carina's hand, "I'm actually going to head straight to work. It's just easier that way."

"You're not even going to change?"

He shrugged, "There's no point. I'll just sweat through fresh clothes in an hour anyway. No reason to change out of yesterday's attire."

She couldn't really argue with that logic. But she didn't want him to go so soon. If only she could have a little longer with him. She let go of his hand and instead wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close. He smelled like steel and the ocean. They exchanged one last affectionate kiss before he left. She stood in the garden and sighed, looking wistfully out at the horizon before heading into what had somehow become her home.

She opened the back door and ran almost directly into Will. She jumped in surprise, stepping back and awkwardly letting him pass. "So sorry." She muttered shyly.

"Where were you?" He asked curiously, walking out into the yard as she stood on the steps looking terrified.

She fumbled over her words before finally spitting out a somewhat believable excuse, "Watching the sun rise."

Will's expression was unreadable. As he turned away she barely noticed that the corner of his mouth had turned up into a smirk. She headed inside before she could further embarrass herself in front of him. Will knew precisely where she had been, but he wouldn't say anything about it.

She scurried up the stairs to the second floor quietly. She hoped to slip into her room and pretend she had been there all night. But just as she was making it to the top of the stairs, Elizabeth was walking out of her room. She was in the middle of tying her hair up when she spotted Carina standing frozen in the hall. Elizabeth smiled around the hairpin she held between her teeth. She took it and pinned a loose tendril of hair back, "Get some rest, dear." She said calmly as she headed toward the girl.

"I — I —" Carina stammered, her eyes wide.

Elizabeth stood in front of Carina, "It's fine. I was young once too, you know." She smiled knowingly and walked past Carina, heading down the stairs.

Carina stood stock still for a moment. It was obvious Elizabeth knew where Carina had been all night, or at least knew that she had been up all night and out of the house. But she wasn't mad. Why wasn't she mad? Carina just assumed she would be mad. It occurred to her that it might be best to not question it. If she was being told to catch up on her sleep, she wasn't about to say no. So, Carina crawled back into bed, and was asleep within minutes.

When she woke again, she headed downstairs only to find that she was alone. The house was empty. No matter how many times she called out to see if anyone was around, her calls were never answered. She popped her head out the back and front doors, but nobody was around. She couldn't figure out where Elizabeth had gone. Carina's thoughts wildly scattered around her brain. Her biggest fear was another threat had found them. Based on the stories she had been told by Elizabeth, the Turner family was hardly unfamiliar with danger and enemies. Was it possible that an old foe had come back and managed to capture Elizabeth while Carina slept?

Carina paced and logically concluded that unless the foe was a ghost (which she begrudgingly admitted was possible) there was no way someone could have so easily captured Elizabeth without Carina hearing it. Unless of course she'd been out in the garden. But Carina remembered Elizabeth's tales of sword fights and battles she had come out victorious in. Even without a sword, she doubted Elizabeth would be an easy target. Carina solidly decided that she could not have been captured. She tried to deduce where on earth Elizabeth might have gone. They were stocked on food, and whatever produce they needed was grown in the garden. There was no reason she would head into town. No business she had to attend to, no purchases she needed to make.

She suddenly had an idea. Perhaps she was out at the shore? She was just as tied to the sea as Will and Henry. Carina slipped into her shoes and headed out from the house, going back to where she had been the night before. It was an iconic place for them. Henry had told her the night before that it was where her mother and father had been separated, and she had seen them reunite in the same place not long ago. She climbed up the hill with little struggle. She was not unfamiliar with physical exertion. When she reached the peak, she was disheartened to see nobody else on the hill. She looked around, eyes skirting the surrounding hills and valley. No sight of her. She looked down at the shore far below, looking up and down it – nothing.

She sat on the hill, starting to get nervous. Perhaps her scientific deduction was inaccurate. It was still possible that she had been kidnapped. Anything was possible, or so Henry told her. She folded her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. The men would be home soon. What was she supposed to tell them? Her eyes flicked up to the horizon naturally as she fretted. She saw a ship sailing toward land. She watched it and thought of Henry. She knew how bad he wanted to head back out there. But Elizabeth had told him he needed to wait. But it was possible Elizabeth was gone. Carina's heart slammed into her chest with fear. She was going to have to tell Will that his wife he had been so elated to be reunited with was missing, and who was he going to blame? As she panicked, her eyes and mind vaguely registered that the ship was approaching the hill, instead of the port down the shore. It finally dawned on her that it was a rather odd thing for a ship to deliberately aim for washing up on the shore rather than making port. There couldn't have been any place to tie the boat up down there, could there?

She edged over to the cliff side. She carefully leaned over and looked down below. She saw the ship carefully meander through a tiny creek into what must have been a cavern in the cliff face. A single person stepped out of the cave a few moments later. Carina squinted carefully at the figure. She was far enough away that if she yelled, the person wouldn't hear her. But she was close enough to make out vague details of the person. The person turned to look down the shoreline and Carina could tell it was a woman. But she was wearing trousers and a shirt, just like male sailors did. A sword even hung at her waist. It wasn't until the woman started walking along the shore, stepping right underneath Carina, that it finally hit her. It was Elizabeth. The golden hair was unmistakable in the sunlight.

Carina carefully edged away from the cliff. She stood and ran back to the house. She couldn't really be certain of what she had seen. Her glances from afar were not circumstantial evidence. She arrived at the house and rushed through the front door. She did a quick check of the rooms. Sure enough, Elizabeth was still nowhere to be found. She decided the best thing she could do was wait until Elizabeth returned. She sat at the dining table and tried to keep herself preoccupied with some knitting. She was terrible at it. So she started making a crappy little square of stitches to get her nervous energy out.

The door opened some time later. She stayed still for a moment and continued knitting. Footsteps sounded down the hall. "Carina," It was Henry. "Where's mum?"

"Good question." Carina said, giving up on the false pretense of knitting and throwing the needles on the table. "I slept in and when I woke up a few hours ago, she was gone."

"You checked the garden?"

"Henry, of course I did." Carina said, rolling her eyes. "I checked everywhere. She was nowhere to be found. I thought I saw her on the shore, but I couldn't have been sure."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Henry?" Will's baritone sounded through the house. "Are you home?"

"Yeah, dad." Henry said, poking his head in the hall. "Mum's not though."

Carina cringed in her seat, terrified of what would happen next. As soon as he spoke again, she could hear the change in his tone. "What do you mean, Henry?"

"Carina said she woke and mum was gone. She's probably getting food in town, or shopping for clothes. Something like that." Henry said, trying to be the voice of reason.

Will seemed to push back Henry and appeared inside the dining room, facing Carina. "Where is she?" He said.

"I have no idea. I swear." She said. "I woke up a few hours ago and she just wasn't here. I looked every —"

The door clanged open and closed. "Mum!"

"What are you doing back so —" Elizabeth started to say from the entrance. Will stormed out of the dining room and out into the hall. Carina couldn't help but stand in the doorway, looking down the hall. Will had her in her arms. "Where were you?" He asked. He let go long enough to look her over as if checking for injuries.

She looked up at him, opening her mouth to speak but unable to find the words. She looked frantically over at Henry and Carina. She sighed in defeat. "I didn't want to tell anyone until much later. But I suppose I don't have a choice now." She paused and added, "It's better if I show you, rather than tell you." She headed back out the door. They all silently followed.

The group naturally fell into pairs. Henry and Carina walked several yards behind Will and Elizabeth as they headed toward the shore.

"I think I know what she's going to show us." I mumbled to Henry.

"What is it?" He asked with a mixture of fear and excitement.

"I don't want to say. I can't be certain. If I don't have full proof, there's no point in making claims." She said seriously.

Elizabeth guided them all straight toward a massive cavern that existed in the side of the cliff face. "Wait here," She said softly to Will. He stood stock still outside the cavern. Carina and Henry stood at his side. They heard a faint noise of waves splashing from within the cavern. Carina could see just how wide and tall the cavern was. It was amazing that the rock did not split totally in half, separating the land above into two distinct pieces.

Within a matter of moments, a ship appeared from within the cavern and careened through the thin creek to the sea. The creek was barely wide enough and deep enough to sustain the ship. But 'enough' seemed to be all the ship needed. Elizabeth stood at the helm, carefully navigating it through the tricky creek. The ship was gorgeous, stretching high up above their heads. The wood was shining in the sunlight, and the sails looked like clouds. It was even equipped with cannon. The figurehead at the bow of the ship was not that typical mermaid or angel of radiant beauty, but instead looked a lot like Mrs. Turner herself in some kind of strange armor.

She steered the ship out into the open water where they could see the ship's name, _King_ , engraved in the back. She dropped anchor and took the longboat out to the shore. When she reached the sand at which her family was still standing dumbstruck she didn't get out. "Would you like to see her?" She asked with a smile. Will sighed deeply before walking over and stepping into the longboat, Henry and Carina followed suit.

After a few quiet minutes, they all boarded the ship. Elizabeth helped them get on deck. Once they were all on the ship, Elizabeth gestured to the _King_ with a wave of her arm. "This," She paused to sigh with satisfaction, "has been my project. Ever since Henry left. I had to give myself something to do. So I built her. I only just finished before you came home Will. I've been taking her out once in a while and giving her test runs. She'll be able to handle up to thirty cannon." Elizabeth was beaming with pride at her ship. Then she turned and saw the look on Will's face, and her expression slowly diminished. Her smile faded.

"Henry," Elizabeth said matter-of-factly, "Go show Carina below decks. You can see where the cannons will be." This was a rouse, and they all knew it. But Henry nodded, took Carina's hand, and headed below deck. He didn't say anything as he silently pulled her down onto a step halfway down the flight of stairs. They were just out of sight of his parents, but still able to hear them speak.

"What need do we have for a ship that can fit thirty cannons?" Will said tersely.

"Oh, I don't know," Elizabeth said with thick sarcasm, "We're only getting bloody chased around by our enemies every other year it would seem. I know he doused all of the curses, but it is still possible there are enemies of ours out there waiting to kill us."

"Like who? Beckett is dead. Jones is too. Hell, Barbossa is even dead." Carina flinched when she heard this. "Who do you think is going to come after us?"

"Will, it's not as if I have a list of possible suspects. We're pirates. I'm the king of the Brethren Court." Henry and Carina exchanged looks of confusion. "We will always have targets on our backs, even if we don't know who is aiming the gun."

There was a pause and Will huffed, "Be that as it may, why is it that you refused to speak of either Henry or I going out to sea when you were in the middle of building this ship?"

"Technically the ship was already finished when I asked you not to head out to sea again." Elizabeth muttered.

"Elizabeth."

"Oh, alright." She sighed in defeat, "I didn't want you to leave … without me. If you went out to sea again, it was going to be all of us on this ship. You _know_ I cannot bear to be separated from you again."

Henry decided now was the time to pop up and interject. Carina followed and tried to keep up with him. "I'm in. Let's go." Henry declared.

"Henry," Will sighed. "This doesn't concern you."

"Of course it does!" Henry said defensively, "Mum built this for us. And I want to go back out there, and so does she. So why don't we?"

Will made a sour face, crossing his arms across his chest. I kept my eyes on Elizabeth, whose expression started to change as she watched Will. It was as if she had made a sudden realization. "Will," Elizabeth murmured, "What is it that you're not telling us?"

After several moments of intense silence with everyone staring at him expectantly, he finally spoke. "One of the first nights home I … I thought I heard something. I dreamt I saw Davy Jones standing in our room. But I woke up from it, and he wasn't there. Although, there were some barnacles on the floor that I stepped on the next day." He paused briefly. "I don't know what to make of it."

"You may have stabbed his heart, but Henry broke all curses. He could be back." Elizabeth guessed, sounding quite convinced of it already. "We might need this ship, before he can find us first."

"You don't know that he's alive." Will countered.

"You don't know he's not." Henry chimed in.

"It's dangerous." Will tried to argue, knowing precisely where this conversation was going. Henry and Elizabeth both laughed at this, and Carina couldn't help but smile as well.

"Need we remind you that we've all had our lives in danger numerous times? Danger is hardly enough to stop us." Elizabeth reminded him.

Will could see he was losing this argument. Perhaps he shouldn't have told them about his worry about Jones, but he knew that they also had a point. There was a good chance he _was_ somewhere out there, and it would be better for them to be out at sea than be sitting ducks on land. "Won't we need more than four people to keep this thing afloat?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Technically, but we'll manage fine on our own."


	2. Chapter 2

The first sense that returned was sound: waves. Waves lapping at a shore. The smell of the bracing sea nearby came next. He felt sand against his face, his hand. He balled his hand into a fist, feeling the sand slip between his fingers. He slowly, carefully opened his eyes. He was washed up ashore, lying on his stomach, seeing nothing but the stretch of sand before him. His first full fledged thought was simply: I guess this is what my afterlife is going to look like.

But Davy Jones had ferried many souls to the other side and he had never seen anything like this on the other side. No, the other side was typically just a bright light. This was not right. He sat up, brushing sand off his face. He had immediately recognized he was back to his original body, his human flesh. He was still assuming this had to do with this being the afterlife. But again, he couldn't quite rationalize his theory. He turned his head toward the sea. He saw gulls swooping over the ocean and cawing, a ship floating along the horizon looked like nothing but a speck. The sun was high in the air. This felt real.

He carefully found his footing, grunting a bit. If this was the afterlife, someone had not been kind enough to make him young again. No, instead he was his same age he had been when he died. Who knew — perhaps that was how it worked. But he still wasn't convinced. He stepped straight for the sea, until the water was up to his knees. It soaked through his trousers, getting deep into his boots and drenching his feet. He didn't mind it one bit. The water was warm and felt somehow familiar to him. He had always belonged in the water. He stared down at the beautiful liquid surrounding him and remembered that which he worshiped, that which had truthfully drawn him to the sea as a young lad so long ago.

"Ca-lyp-so?" He muttered the name one small syllable at a time, gazing into the translucent blue water.

The water continued to come toward him in steady waves. He waited patiently. After a minute or two had passed, he began to doubt. It was foolish to think that just by uttering her name she would appear to him. She never did seem to show when he wanted her to. As soon as he doubted her, however, the water began to turn in an unnatural direction, against the current. It spun around and shook itself in a way Jones had never seen before. A gray crab popped up to the surface of the water and washed past him, toward the shore. He turned to watch it crawl across the beach. When he saw it was doing nothing particularly special, he turned back to face the sea and gasped in surprise. Before him was a naked woman. His Calypso. His goddess. She had taken the form she had maintained when she was imprisoned by him in flesh and bone. The dark skin suited her, as did the thick dreaded hair. At first, her expression was unreadable. She simply stared at him.

"Calypso. Is this — real? Where am I?"

"Where you belong, here on earth. Here in the Caribbean." She assured him.

"I cannot possibly be alive." He insisted, eyes widening slowly but surely.

She smiled sadly, "But you are alive. Poseidon's trident was destroyed. My curse to you destroyed, along with others. You were killed while under my curse, and so you are free again."

It took Davy a moment to breath properly. When he regained his sense of stability he looked up at his love in anguish, "I may be free. But I still cannot have you, can I?"

Her sad smile remained on her lips as she shook her head, "No my love. We both know that it does not work between us. You could never handle my wildness. That has not changed."

He nodded slowly in agreement. He accepted long ago that he would never have that which he desired most. She was never his to begin with. He reached forward, touching a gentle hand to her cheek, "Then perhaps, as one last farewell, you can restore my powers?"

"Anything for you Davy Jones." She whispered softly. She let her hand fall over his and he felt a jolt of energy. "You will be as you were before, powers and all. But this is my last favor for you, my sweet. Goodbye, and good luck." She said gently, holding his hand to her lips and kissing it gently. In the blink of an eye her skin and body turned into liquid that fell back into the sea. This same water spun rapidly around him, enveloping him completely. Despite being submerged fully in this whirlwind of water, he still breathed with ease. When the water fell, he was back in the body he had grown so familiar with. His tentacles fell down across his chest where his beard had once been, and his crab claws had returned to his arm and leg. He whispered a kind prayer of gratitude toward Calypso.

Cautiously, he stepped out of the water and toward the shore. No magic prevented this. He glanced at a tree further inland. He was able to walk toward it without any difficulty, land was no threat to him whatsoever. He stood before the tree and was able to easily walk right through it as he had been able to do before. He turned back to face the sea once more and thought of his beloved _Dutchman_. He wondered if …

He concentrated intently on his ship. In his mind's eye, he saw it as its former glory. He beckoned for it, pleaded for it. The water in the distance rumbled, bubbled, and brewed ominously. He opened his eyes and smiled wickedly as the ship began to rise from the waters, making a loud crashing noise as it landed on the water. As soon as he stepped back in the water he was able to bring himself to his ship. _The Flying Dutchman_ was his anchor, that which he could always draw himself back to with ease. The ship looked like it had many years ago, white sails and all. He found himself at the helm and couldn't help but laugh victoriously. He was back — and he knew exactly what his new purpose was and who he had to hunt down to exact his revenge.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this brief scene! This will likely be the shortest chapter. I wasn't initially going to include it, but I thought you would want to know how and why Jones has returned. Don't worry, we'll be rejoining our favorite family in the next chapter!_


	3. Chapter 3

Carina detested the crow's nest. She was not particularly fond of heights, especially not when there was instability and swaying involved. But she didn't have much of a choice. Elizabeth was steering the _King_ , Will was guiding her with the map Carina had provided, and Henry was busy running around below deck trying to prepare for a potential attack. Cannons had to be stocked, candles and rods rested beside them ready to be lit at any moment, and their supplies had to be strapped down for safety purposes. Since Carina had no purpose in navigating, what with the map and all, she was relegated to keep an eye out in the crow's nest. She couldn't deny that despite not having eaten since they left Port Royale several hours before, she was nauseous. The waves were more turbulent than she had expected and continually rocked the ship just enough to slam her to one side of the walls of the crow's nest. It was all she could do to not abandon her post. But stubborn as she was, she refused to let the inconvenient movement stop her from protecting them. The crow's nest was small at only one and a half meters circumference, Carina guessed. She easily pressed a foot against each wall to stop herself from being jostled about, only then did she unfold her telescope and peer out to the horizon.

Lucky for them, this nighttime task was not totally impossible with a nearly full moon hanging above them. Carina desperately wanted to point her telescope toward the moon and see what exact phase she was in and whether she was waxing or waning. She had an equal fascination with the moon and the planets as she did with the stars. But she did her best to keep her focus to the task at hand. She highly doubted any enemy ship would come near them. The _King_ was not currently flying any colors, but Elizabeth had smuggled an English flag to hoist, if need be, to avoid conflict.

Carina turned herself slowly and carefully, trying not to think of how far of a fall it would be from this height. When she turned to face northeast she immediately saw a ship that caught her eye. She moved her eye away from the spyglass for a moment. It was still so far away she could barely see it with the naked eye. She held on tight to the edge of the crow's nest as she stood and shouted, "Ship headed from the northeast toward us!" There was no panic in her voice. She assumed it was a supply ship headed to a colony. She saw Elizabeth gesture for her to come down. Carina groaned a bit, not wanting to head down the ratlines. But she knew she didn't have a choice, Elizabeth and Will would want to see for themselves what was approaching them. She carefully ducked out of the wood craft and grasped onto the ratlines for dear life and scrambled down them quickly. She finally touched down on the deck and handed the telescope to Elizabeth who had made it over to her in the time it took her to come down.

Elizabeth opened the scope and looked just where Carina pointed on the dark horizon. She recognized the ship immediately despite the dim lighting. She lowered the spyglass hesitantly and handed it silently to Carina. "What's wrong?" The look on the captain's face worried her. Elizabeth glanced at her and murmured, "Get below deck. Send Henry up and stay down there. Barricade yourself in any way that you can." Carina's eyes widened as she realized that something very serious was approaching them, not just a cargo ship. She did as she was commanded and ran below deck, "Henry!" She called, looking about frantically. He appeared from behind a large cannon and ran toward her, "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"I'm not sure. A ship is approaching. Your mother wants you on deck. She told me to barricade myself." She was talking so fast she was barely coherent, but Henry was still able to decipher the gist of what she was saying. He knew something bad was coming, and he knew why it was best for Carina to stay out of harm's way below deck.

"It's going to be okay. Hide among the crates. Don't come up, no matter what, okay?" Henry's hands rested on either side of her face.

"Henry, please. What's happening?" She asked desperately, genuinely starting to panic.

"If mum wants you barricaded, we're under attack. And you can't fight yet. We can. We'll do our best to stand our ground, but it won't be easy with so few of us." Henry explained honestly. This did not help Carina's anxiety. "Listen, I don't know what's going to happen. I love you Carina." Her eyes widened in alarm. The situation must have been far worse than she imagined. He leaned in and kissed her with a surprising tenderness that did not fit the situation. She returned the affection but he pulled away sooner than she would have preferred. It occurred to her that she had neglected to respond, "I love you too, Henry. Be safe." He smiled charmingly before disappearing up the steps to the deck.

Carina looked around the galley, trying to find a good hiding spot. She headed over to the barrels of water and tucked herself down among them. She listened attentively, and took a deep breath. She silently prayed in her mind to her father to protect her. She didn't want to reunite with him _that_ badly.

On deck, Will was at the helm and Elizabeth and Henry were standing at the ready at two readied cannons. He had loaded each with some long range cannon balls. It was the best they would be able to manage. The _Dutchman_ approached through the moonlight, but no cannons came out from her hull. Elizabeth nodded toward her son and they both lit the wick on their cannons, aimed straight at the _Dutchman_. They hit their targets, but it didn't matter. Nobody was hit but the ship. They weren't going to be able to reload in time. Will knew it was pointless to try to outrace the _Dutchman_. He left the helm, leaving the _King_ to drift as the _Dutchman_ fast approached. He headed down toward his wife and son, each one of them now brandishing their swords. The _Dutchman_ came close enough for fifteen crewman to board, each carrying a pistol in one hand and a sword in another.

It was obvious this was not going to end well for them. Each of them fought with everything they had. Will protected Elizabeth, Elizabeth protected Will, and they both protected Henry. Surprisingly, they took down the first fifteen men with relative ease. For Will and Elizabeth, they were fighting with memories. They could have done this in their sleep, and the two of them actually killed more men than Henry did, who seemed to hesitate slightly. He was trained, but he had never had to use his skills before, not much anyway. As soon as the fifteen were done with, their blood staining the wood on the _King's_ deck, another forty boarded. This time, there was no denying that they were not going to get out of this. But, to their surprise, when they were all inevitably unarmed they were not killed. Instead, they were brought aboard the _Flying_ _Dutchman_.

Several of the crewman from the _Dutchman_ scoured the rest of the ship, a few heading below decks where they discovered Carina hiding. She screamed and tried to break free of them, fearing for her body and her life. They were just barely able to contain her, tying her wrists together with rope. One of them threw her over his shoulder and hauled her onto the _Dutchman_ with ease. In a few moments she found herself thrown (with little care) into the brig. She landed on her side, gasping as the air flew from her lungs. The crew that had snatched her laughed at her misery as they walked away, but it didn't drown out a familiar voice, "Carina! You're alright!"

She slowly propped herself up into a sitting position as Henry hurried toward her. His arms wrapped around her, "Are you hurt?" He asked, pulling away to see for himself whether there was severe damage to her person. "Bruised, but I'll be fine. Although, if you have anything sharp to cut these ropes that would be nice." She said frankly. Henry lifted her arms toward him, smiling, "Oh that's some shoddy knotwork. We don't need anything to cut it." He easily untied her bindings and helped her to her feet. She gained her bearings, realizing all four of them were sharing a large barred cell in the belly of the ship. She looked toward Will and Elizabeth, who were both leaning against the wall looking furious. "What happened?"

"Jones happened." Elizabeth said irritably, arms crossed.

"He found us before we could find him." Will explained shortly.

"Why didn't he just kill us?"

"I don't know." They said at the same time. Their anger was replaced ever so briefly by a glance and a little smile of amusement.

"Well we have to get out of here." Carina pointed out the obvious.

Elizabeth sighed, "I agree, but we shouldn't try to escape tonight. Firstly, it's too obvious. Secondly, he wants us alive for a reason. We need to figure out why."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Carina countered. She was already crafting ideas on how to get out of the brig itself. But how did Elizabeth plan on figuring out Jones' motive? Was she just going to ask for an audience with him and ask him?

"I'll take care of it, don't worry. We can attempt escape tomorrow if possible, but we'll need our energy in order to get out of here alive, especially if we encounter resistance." Elizabeth explained rationally, "Everyone get some rest. I'm going to stay on watch, just in case." She glanced at Will and they seemed to silently exchange something that Carina could not interpret. How were they able to do that? Carina looked at Henry, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged. It was better to not put up a fight with Elizabeth. She was just as stubborn as the rest of them. And so, the three of them tried to get comfortable and rest in the cold brig. Carina curled up in Henry's arms in one corner and despite the hard floor beneath them they both managed to fall asleep. Will, meanwhile, stayed awake for a moment with Elizabeth by the door to their prison.

"What's your plan?" He said in a hushed tone.

"I think you already know." She murmured, glancing around the ship. Nobody had come down since they had dropped Carina in the brig. But she knew they would eventually have to come down for something.

Will nodded, he had understood right away what she was going to do. "Just be careful. Don't do anything too drastic."

She smiled at that, "I won't, I promise." She turned to face him, "Go on, get some sleep. You're going to need it."

He kissed her once before leaving her to her watch. He knew he probably wouldn't sleep at all, but it was worth trying. He sat on the floor, leaning against the back wall and rested his head on the cool metal bars of the brig.

Elizabeth waited patiently at the door of the brig, letting her arms dangle out through the bars. She sighed as she remembered the last time she had been in this very brig. It had been a lot grungier below deck back then. But the rotting wood, slowly dissolving men, and barnacles were gone. The _Dutchman_ was in much better shape than it had been before. She assumed this was mostly thanks to Henry breaking the curse. The men that she had fought and killed earlier were definitely new crewman too. Jones must have gotten some men aboard in Tortuga or the like. Very few would recognize the _Dutchman_ anymore at ports. The sails were no longer discolored and filled with holes, the ship had fresh wood, and all signs of fraying were gone. The only way that Elizabeth had recognized it in the telescope was by the distinctive mouth and teeth that the bow had, making the ship look like a monster.

After three or four hours of mindlessly daydreaming a life when she could just sit and enjoy the weather with her family, someone finally came blundering down the stairs. Elizabeth perked up. The man was young, but still a bit older than Henry by the looks of it. Lucky for her, he was already inebriated. "Sailor?" She called out, her voice higher than usual. He looked over at her and noticed her blouse was unbuttoned and open wide. He couldn't help but look down her chest. When his eyes found her face again he saw a smile spread across her lips, "What's your name?" She asked, batting her eyelashes. She wondered if it was obvious how much she was playing it up, but she figured the man was far too drunk to notice. "Uhhh, the name's Michael." He stammered, only then remembering his task. He shook his head and looked away from Elizabeth, heading to a pile of crates.

"What's it like being a pirate?" She asked, trying very hard not to laugh. "I bet you're very brave."

Michael glanced back at her, again becoming mesmerized by her body, "Oh yeah, very brave." He said with an ugly smile that showed his several rotting teeth. "It's a rough life, but I survive. Not particularly fun being with Jones, but he rarely bothers us, so I guess I can't complain."

"Oh but I bet he's so frightening!" She shuddered, thinking herself quite the terrible actress but continuing nonetheless, "I can't imagine. I'd be so scared."

He picked up the small crate in front of him with a grunt, as if showing off, and sauntered back over toward Elizabeth, "Oh, he's not so bad. He's too busy plotting his revenge or whatever in his cabin to bother us much."

"Revenge? I'd hate to be on the receiving end of Davy Jones' revenge." She was onto it now, she just had to keep him reeled in.

"Oh, yes, for sure. I don't know what Jack Sparrow did, but you can bet he's going to regret having crossed Jones."

 _I should have known_ , Elizabeth thought. "Who's he?" She asked ignorantly.

"I don't really know. Some bloke that didn't keep his contract with Jones." Michael said, stepping closer to the bars.

"Well, he's in for a rough time." Elizabeth said, yawning at the tail end of the sentence. She pulled her arms back in through the bars and stepped away. "Just as I'm sure you will be if he catches you slacking on the job." Michael scoffed, "Oh he doesn't pay much att—" A well timed foot fell on the deck below. He jumped in surprise, straightening his posture. He realized she may have a point and scowled at her, "Thanks for distracting me, harlot." He spit on the ground before marching back up the stairs to the deck.

Elizabeth smiled to herself as she buttoned her shirt back up. Men were far too easy to manipulate.

The Turners wouldn't be able to leave until the next night under cover of night again, so Elizabeth decided a "watch" was not necessary. And so, with her womanhood tucked back in place under her blouse, she walked over to her husband. He was now using his jacket as a pillow with his arms folded across his chest and lying flat on his back. She said a silent prayer of thanks to whatever omnipresent being she vaguely believed in for bringing her husband back home to her. She let out a real yawn and sat down beside him, spreading out on her side and wrapping an arm around his waist. He unfolded his arms and wrapped one around her body.

She rested her head against his chest and heard his heart beating. She had grown so familiar with the sound from the twenty years she had spent with it separate from his body. She knew it well enough to know he was not sleeping. "Are you okay?" She whispered against his chest, wondering if she was asking him or his heart and pondering if there was a difference.

"Yes."

"You're not mad are you?"

"Maybe a little jealous. But I'm not mad." He admitted honestly.

"Jealous of _him_?" She sounded slightly horrified.

"Not of who he is, but of the attention you gave him."

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. "Will," She sat up on her elbow and looked down at him. He looked up at her with those big brown eyes and she could have melted. "Are you really jealous of a man who can look but not touch? I'm all yours Will, you know that."

He smiled at her gently, "I know, and I'm forever wondering how it's possible that I was so blessed. Can you forgive a simple man's jealousy?" He asked, reaching out and brushing her hair out of her face.

"Of course," She managed to mumble before leaning down to kiss him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Half pin barrel hinges." Carina remarked as her hands traced the bars of her cell. Will was looking at her with a smile, "Very good." He remarked. "How do you suggest we get out then?" Night had fallen and the Turners were alone below deck again. Jones had not paid them a visit, but this was as Elizabeth expected. She had a feeling he was planning on using them as bait to lure Jack in.

"Well, leverage would help but I don't see where we're going to get any from." Carina said, glancing around their mostly barren cell.

"Really? I see something we could use." Will said with a small smile as he walked over to the wall. A small wooden bench was nailed to the ground. He crouched down in front of it and examined the screws. Carina wandered over as Elizabeth and Henry watched curiously from the other end of the brig. "Can it be removed?" Carina asked.

"The screws appear to be stripped and I do believe," He reached out and yanked at the bench and it wobbled in place, "It's already loose. Well, that makes things considerably easier."

"So all we have to do is detach the bench from the floor and then use it as leverage? Of course, all we need is leverage and strength. Why hadn't I thought of it sooner?"

"To be fair, I've done this before." Will admitted.

"You've broken out of a brig before?"

Will couldn't help but smile, "That's the pirate's life for you. Now c'mon, help me out." Carina and Will set to task of getting the screws from out of the bench and breaking it free. Meanwhile Henry and Elizabeth watched with furrowed brows, "Do you know how they managed to figure that one out?" She asked her son curiously.

"Nope, no idea." Henry admitted.

Elizabeth shook her head, a small smirk curving at the edge of her mouth. "You know, I don't think you could have found someone more like your parents than her."

Henry looked at his mother in surprise for a moment before turning back to watch Will and Carina bust the bench out of place. "I hadn't realized she was like him at all until now."

"In more ways than one." Elizabeth noted as the pair crossed the brig and wedged the legs of the bench under the cell door. "Are you ready?" She asked, her smile fading and her tone darkening. Henry nodded, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword. He was to lead the way for them, to make sure they had some clearance. Elizabeth had formulated the plan. She knew Will and Carina would be able to figure a way out of these bars, and so far her plan was smooth sailing. All they had to do was make it to the long boat and they would be free. It was foolish that Jones had not expected them to be able to escape, what with Will knowing the entire layout of the ship.

The door hinges snapped and the door came free. Elizabeth and Henry rushed forward and held fast to the bars so that the door did not fall and make a noise. Carina and Will put the bench down gently and grabbed onto the door as well. Slowly and inch by inch they moved out of the cell, holding onto its door, until they could safely rest it against the remaining bars of the brig with nothing but the soft _tink_ of metal on metal.

Henry took the first steps toward the stairs that lead up to the deck. He unsheathed his sword and held it out as he silently crept up the stairs, skipping the fourth one up as his father has advised him to earlier. He could not hear them, but he could sense his family slowly making their way behind him. He slowly emerged in the night air and saw, to his immense surprise, that nobody was on the deck. They had counted some fifty to seventy men go to the hammocks to sleep, but they had assumed someone would be minding the ship at night. The helm was even abandoned. Henry stood at the top of the stairs and listened carefully. Absolute silence, nothing but the gentle hush of the sea breeze. He gestured for his family to come up as he sheathed his sword. They all reacted in equal amazement at the lack of resistance meeting them.

"We've no time to question it," Will whispered to them before heading for the longboat that was already hanging from the side of the boat. He had a bad feeling about this, but he did not say anything about it. "Get in, quickly." He demanded, guiding his family to the boat. The board beneath Carina's foot squeaked a bit as she headed toward the portside where the longboat was waiting for them. They all froze where they were. Henry was already waiting at the longboat, about to get in. Elizabeth was beside Carina, halfway there. Nothing happened. They resumed their movements. Henry climbed as quietly as he could into the boat. Will gave Elizabeth a hand, helping her ease in. He did the same for Carina, leaving himself standing on deck, ready to climb in and set off. He lifted a foot onto the rail and almost immediately a shot was fired. He could feel the bullet just graze the hair on the back of his head.

He did not hear his family gasp and scream in shock. He immediately spun in the direction of the bullet to see Jones standing at the helm with a pistol in his one hand. Jones cackled malevolently, "And where do you think you're going, Master Turner?" In the blink of an eye, Will had drawn his sword and cut the rope that had tied the long boat to the ship.

"WILL! NO!" Elizabeth screamed as they fell and crashed into the waves below. Will was trapped on the _Flying Dutchman_. Elizabeth tried to jump out of the dinghy, shouting incoherently. Henry had to hold her back, bracing her arms to her sides as she thrashed against him, desperate to go back. He only vaguely got pieces of what she was screaming: "I won't leave you!" and "Not again!" were among the few that seemed to repeat themselves the most. The _Dutchman_ sailed on, leaving them in her wake as they sloshed about. "Mum, mum! There's nothing we can do." Henry tried to reason with her. After a few more moments of fighting him, she realized he was right. She went limp in his arms. He let go of her, a bit hesitantly. He exchanged a look of concern with Carina. Neither of them knew what to do.

With nothing to guide it, the longboat treaded water aimlessly for several minutes as the three sat silently, unsure of what to do. Elizabeth finally seemed to snap out of it, "Row the damn boat. We need to get to Tortuga. Quickly." She was done playing games. She knew Will was alive. She had to believe that. She knew that only one person and one ship was going to be able to get to the _Dutchman_ to save him.

 _On the Dutchman_

Jones stomped down the stairs as his men flowed in a steady stream up from the depths of the ship. Will was surrounded and outnumbered as Jones approached him. "Such a foolish man." Jones remarked as he approached him. "Did you really think escape would be so easy? I know you ran this ship for a decade, I knew you would get out."

"Then why did you let them escape?" He countered angrily.

"All a part of the plan, Turner. I need you here, and I need them out there. You'll soon understand. But for now," He smiled wickedly, "You're going to be punished for your attempted escape." A few men snuck up behind Will and grabbed his arms, pinning them behind his back. He tried to wrestle free, but it was pointless. Another man approached from behind Jones, holding an all too familiar whip. "It's a shame your dear father can't be with us to enjoy this moment. Where might he be? Perhaps it's not too late to find him." Jones taunted with delight.

"He's dead. Like you ought to be." Will threatened as Jones' men threw him against the portside rail, tearing his shirt in half.

"Well, thanks to the fool who broke the trident I get to be alive once more." Jones laughed victoriously, "Let's make it ten lashes this time, shall we?" He suggested to the crewman holding the whip, "And don't hesitate to put your back into it lad, there's a nice lump of gold waiting for you after this." The crewman nodded and smiled eagerly at the prospect of a chunk of change. Will braced himself, his knuckles white on the ship's rail as the whip came down on his back. He looked down at the waters below. His family was out of sight. He was grateful for it. He managed to withhold his cries of pain as the whip came down on him. His flesh remembered the damage well. He still had the five scars from before. And now they were getting cut open again and crosshatched to boot. He wondered if it was possible for one human body to have so many scars. As the fourth and fifth blows landed he mentally counted for all the scars that consumed his flesh. The one where his heart had been carved out. Four. The five old lashes. Five. The ten new lashes. Six. A thin white line on the palm of his left hand where he had cut it to spill his blood on gold. Seven. The small mark where the sword had entered his chest. Eight. The small cut above his right ankle from a nasty fall as a child. Nine. The countless small nicks and stabs from years gone by that had more or less healed. Ten.

Davy Jones sighed with deep satisfaction as Will collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the pain any longer. "Have you learned your lesson, Turner?" He asked, kneeling before the limp body. He nudged him so he was looking up at the squid-like man before him. "You are not leaving this ship again. If you try, I will not hesitate to kill you a second time." He stood and ambled through the crowd, "Lock him back up, and put the old door back on." He commanded as the men milled about. A few men picked up Will's bleeding body and carried him down to the brig. They threw him in and latched on the proper door, one that could not be so easily removed. He landed on his back and promptly passed out from the blinding pain.


	5. Chapter 5

Upon landing in Tortuga in the middle of the night, after an agonizingly shaky ride in the longboat, Elizabeth immediately found them a room. Thankfully, she had had the common sense to line her pockets with coin, should they become stranded as they presently were. The fair for the room was cheap enough, giving Elizabeth plenty of wealth to spare - although she would not disclose to her son or Carina how much she really had. The room was cramped, with only a single bed crammed in the corner. Despite their protests, she insisted they share it. She wasn't planning on sleeping anyway. Realizing that, yet again, Elizabeth was going to be stubborn about it, Henry and Carina relented to retiring for the night. Mrs. Turner, meanwhile, made her way through the streets of Tortuga. She found herself surprisingly familiar with it, despite it having been twenty and some years since she had last been to the wretched pirate's cove.

She made her way to the same pub she had been in before, dressed in masculine attire as she had been on that day as well. This time, however, she was not looking for Will. She made her way around the pub, uttering the same name to every person she saw, "Jack Sparrow?" Most of them rolled their eyes or got angry at the mention of his name. One man held a small dagger to her throat and sneered, "If you see 'im, ye tell 'im to gimme back my goat." He started to go on, but Elizabeth had nearly broken his wrist to get him to release the weapon. He cried in pain as she walked away, as if nothing unusual had happened. The patrons time and time again had little information to provide, or contradicting information. One man said he was last in Madagascar and another said he was in Havana. She was starting to become desperate.

She was wandering in the back of the pub, in the shadowy corners, when she noticed a man sitting in the far back with only a single stub of a candle lit on his table. His hat was lowered, covering his face and his arms were crossed. She knew at once it was not him. But she had a strange feeling she needed to approach this stranger. She stood before the table at which the man sat at alone, but he did not look up. She wondered if he was asleep. "Sir, have you seen Captain Jack Sparrow?" The man seemed to chuckle (or was it a cough?) and he slowly turned to look up at Elizabeth.

"Teague?" She said in surprise.

"Ah, if it isn't the Pirate King herself." Teague smiled toothily. He unfolded his arms and gestured for her to sit down across the table from him. She did so without question. "Why are you looking for Jackie?" He asked casually, picking off a splinter of wood from the rough table and using it as a toothpick.

"I have information for him." She said frankly, "Do you happen to know where he is?"

Teague hummed in thought, "My brother Jack just ran into him in St. Martin not long ago, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes, I know. Then you haven't seen him more recently than we have."

"We? Who's with you?" He asked curiously, glancing around the tavern.

"My family." She admitted, irritated that she had slipped up so badly. She had been hoping to keep everything as underwraps as possible. It was always safer that way. She really didn't trust any pirate that was not her husband or son. She certainly didn't trust Jack, or his father, entirely. "My son last saw Jack off the coast of Port Royale. But that was months ago."

Teague was silent for a moment. Elizabeth was not about to spit out any more information, and sat across from with her arms folded. She would wait until he had something worthwhile to share. Seeing that she was refusing to disclose any more, Teague spoke again, "Well, if you really must know, he'll be here tomorrow to stock up. He's been looting and pillaging since he helped your dear old son, and he's due to make port soon."

"And you can confirm this?"

"I saw those black sails on the horizon this evening. He'll be in first thing in the morning, I don't doubt it." Teague said with absolute certainty.

"So chances are he'll be right here, talking to you, tomorrow morn?" She suggested.

Teague smirked, flicking the toothpick to the floor. "Why would I do you such a favor?"

She slammed her hand on the table angrily, the candle and flame wobbling dangerously, "Because your son's life is in danger!" Her voice was shaking with anger. She clenched her hand in a fist and tried to summon her calm tone back. She sighed before adding, "That bloody trident broke Jones' curse as well, and he's out for blood. He will not rest until he kills him."

"And why would you have any interest in preventing his fate?" Teague inquired. "Didn't you already let Jones kill him once before?"

"That was different." She argued angrily. She should not have disclosed any of this, but she didn't see as she had much choice now.

Teague laughed, "Let me guess. That git of yours is involved somehow."

"My _husband_ is involved, yes. Jones has him."

He nodded and laughed loudly again, "Oh, I see. So you plan on saving Jack from his fate with Jones, but you're going to save the git at the same time? I doubt that very possible."

She rolled her eyes, "If you must know, I was planning on getting on the _Pearl_ with Jack, saving Will on my own, and then putting Jones back where he belongs - at the bottom of sea. Then Jack can run off to wherever he wants, and I can go home and live in peace. Satisfied?"

"Not remotely, but you seem to think it'll work." Teague said calmly, "Yeah. I'll be sure he's sitting right where you are on the morrow."

She sighed in relief as she stood, "Thank you."

"Any time, King." Teague smirked as she walked away.

 _Six in the Morning_

Henry and Carina awoke to a loud knock on their door. Carina started in surprise, nudging Henry's arms off from her waist and quickly getting out of bed. Tending to sleep more soundly than her, he had only just sat up when the door opened. His mother stood in the doorway, looking quite the mess. Her hair was tied back tight and she'd acquired a hat from somewhere. In her arms was a bundle of clothes and weaponry, "We have an early morning. So get dressed quickly." She said, taking one or two steps into the room. She unceremoniously dumped the clothing and weapons on a small table in the opposite corner. Four pistols, two swords. "The clothing is for you Carina. We're not going to make it very far if you keep wearing that dress." She explained shortly, "Meet me outside when you're ready." She left without another word, shutting the door behind her.

Carina looked over at Henry with a cautious expression, "Do you think she's … alright?"

Henry sighed as he got out of bed and grabbed his shirt off the floor, "Probably not. But she will be. I'll bet you anything she has a plan. It's best if we just go along with it."

Carina silently agreed, but was a little hesitant as she looked down at the clothes in front of her. She slipped out of her long nightgown with ease, grateful she was wearing nothing else underneath. It would have been far more cumbersome had she tried to change later in the day after putting on layer upon layer of undergarments. She didn't notice Henry's gaze as she changed into the clothes. The faded black trousers were a bit loose on her, as was the billowy long sleeved shirt that had once been white. The vest and jacket, however, fit her quite comfortably. The maroon of the vest stood out against the otherwise monochromatic fashion. There was a baldric to carry a sword and pistol on the table as well. She pulled it on and carefully tucked two of the pistols into pockets on the baldric, one on top of the other, cascading down from her shoulder. The sword slipped into the scabbard attached, the grip resting on her left hip. A pair of large black boots remained; she slipped them on with ease. She felt strangely comfortable in the new style, and turned to Henry who had finished dressing in a similar getup. "How do I look?"

He couldn't help but let out a soft laugh and smile, "Stunning. Truly."

The two appeared on the road outside of the small home they had rented a room overnight in, and found Elizabeth waiting patiently. She smiled as they walked out, happy to see Carina already moving comfortably in her new clothes. She knew that right about now, Carina was realizing how liberating it was to not have to wear dresses. "Right, let's go then." She said, heading down the street into town. Carina and Henry followed dutifully, but shortly after they started off Henry was compelled to ask, "Mum, how is it you seem to know where you're going already? You can't have learned all the routes overnight."

"I've been here before." She said simply.

"What?"

Elizabeth smiled to herself, "Before you were born. I don't think I ever told you the full story. Perhaps Carina can tell you about it." She glanced over her shoulder at her.

"What do you mean? How does she know about it and I don't?" He said, sounding frustrated, perhaps even angry.

Carina murmured, "She was telling me stories of my father. She ended up telling me most of her stories with Will and Jack. She may have mentioned she didn't tell you before because she was afraid it would make you more likely to go to sea."

Henry glanced up at the back of his mother's head, wondering what other things she had never told him. Somehow, he felt, there was always going to be certain things he never knew about her. Elizabeth Turner was almost certainly going to remain a mystery to most people.

"I came here a long time ago trying to find your father, who came here to find Jack. And I came to this exact pub and beat the stuffing out of my old suitor." She said with a laugh as they came upon the entrance of the tavern. Henry gave Carina a puzzled look and she shrugged, clearly having never heard of the latter half of the statement. Indeed, the name James Norrington had not crossed Elizabeth Turner's lips in twenty years, and with good reason.

She headed toward the back of the pub, moving fluidly through crowds of pirates, sailors, and brutes. She paused, holding up a hand to stop Carina and Henry. "Wait here for a moment." They stood still and watched her continue toward the darkest corner of the tavern. That was when it dawned on Henry who she was approaching. He nudged Carina gently, "Hey, does that look like …?"

"Yes. Yes it's him." Carina said stiffly, "I'm guessing he's our ride out of here though."

"Well that's if mum can convince him." Henry said. They watched patiently, hoping to see some form of diplomacy. Instead, they watched Elizabeth walk behind Captain Jack and take his glass of rum straight out of his hand and toss it to the floor, the glass chipping but not shattering.

Elizabeth had not meant to do it, she just couldn't help herself. Upon seeing him she was filled with irritation, but when she had been close enough to hear his voice she was filled with rage. She couldn't help but think of how easy her life could be right now if not for Jack's intrusion at all of the wrong times. She would still have her father, Will never would have been cursed, and Henry would never have had the pain of growing up without a father. These are the thoughts that spun through her head as she reached for the glass and tossed it to the ground. Jack looked up and did not seem surprised to see Elizabeth standing before him. Teague was sitting across from his son with a grin on his face.

"Why must you always do that?" Jack asked irritably, "If you're trying to get me to quit the drink, trust me, it'll never work."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Jack Sparrow, you never change."

"Neither do you. Which must mean you've come to kill me or something of that nature." He remarked with a pointed look toward Teague.

"Quite the opposite," She assured him, "I'm trying to spare it. Jones has returned."

This caught his attention. He seemed to freeze slightly and turned to look at her seriously, "That's not possible. We saw him go down."

"And you helped Henry break that trident. It didn't just free Will from the curse, it freed Jones as well." Elizabeth easily explained. "And now he's got Will, and he's waiting for you."

Jack stood quickly, pushing past her, "Well if you don't mind, that's cue enough for me to head out. Crew should have the ship ready in the hour, I'll just head out to Europe or something and hide it out until someone else gets rid of him." As he turned away from Elizabeth, Henry and Carina formed a sort of wall and blockes him from heading for the door. He frowned as he realized who else had accompanied Elizabeth. "And she's dragged you into this mess?" Carina and Henry didn't say anything in reply, they just smiled.

"You're not going anywhere Jack." Elizabeth assured as she walked up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I suppose that's not true. You're going to get on that ship with us, and you're going to help us find Will and rescue him. Then we'll kill Jones, and you'll be safe. Sounds good to me. What do you say?"

Jack's lip curled in disdain. He really would just rather hide away and not deal with it. But no matter how much he tried to avoid things, these silly people always forced him to face that which he was most keen to avoid. "Fine. But on one condition."

"And what's that Jack?" Elizabeth queried with a smile, happy to have gotten her way.

He looked over his shoulder at her and smirked, "Don't touch my rum."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long! I was working on it for ages and then school started. I apologize if there's any errors, I haven't read over every sentence yet for perfection, but I figured that my loving fans would want a draft if it meant less waiting ;)**

* * *

"Master Gibbs!"

"Cap'n?" Gibbs said as he headed down to the deck to meet Jack as he stepped aboard the _Black Pearl_ from the gangplank.

"We have a slight change of plans." Jack said with a deadpan expression. Gibbs started to inquire as to the reason when he saw Elizabeth step on the ship just behind Jack. "I see." Gibbs said. He was slightly disgruntled to no longer be on the planned trip to hunt Spanish ships for treasures. "Where we be heading then?"

"Yes, your nibs," Jack said to Elizabeth. He turned to face her as Henry and Carina joined them aboard the ship. "Where _are_ we headed? Where might we find fish face?"

"Fish face?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh, that would be Davy Jones." Henry said with fake enthusiasm.

"Jones!" Gibbs said in shock.

"Yes, Jones." Elizabeth confirmed.

"Again?"

"Again." Jack said. "And Ms. Swann -"

"Mrs. Turner, Captain Sparrow." Elizabeth corrected.

He gave her a withering look, "Elizabeth, as I was saying, seems to think Jones is coming after yours truly again and want to find him before he finds us because, and this is the best part, Will Turner is presently in Jones' brig. Did I get that all then?"

Elizabeth returned the disdain, "Yes."

"And you agreed to do what exactly?" Gibbs asked. A small crowd of the crew had gathered - Marty, Scrum, and Cotton - to hear what was happening.

"Wonderful question. What was your plan, your majesty?" Jack asked Elizabeth. Henry could no longer question how much the captain and his mother disliked each other, and wondered just how much bad blood flowed between them.

"We're going to find Jones, save Will, then kill Jones and be on our merry way." Everyone stared at her blankly. Even Henry and Carina exchanged looks of apprehension. It did sound quite preposterous and impossible.

Gibbs broke the silence, "If ye don't mind me asking, Cap'n, why did you agree to this?"

"No idea. Maybe I have a death wish? Yeah, I'm going to go with death wish."

"It'll work if we play our cards right." Elizabeth tried to reassure her audience. Many of them met this with more disbelief. "Well," Jack started, "If it gets Jones off my case, might as well try. Any idea how to find him?"

"Do you still have that compass?" Elizabeth suggested.

"No, he traded it for a bottle." Henry answered.

Jack laughed triumphantly and pulled his compass from his belt where it had been tied. "In fact I do have my compass again. Only had to cut a few fingers to get it too!"

Elizabeth reached for it, but he pulled it out of reach before she could grab it. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I want to find Will more than you want to find Jones, so I should be the one to use it." Elizabeth reasoned.

Jack's crooked smile appeared on his lips, and Elizabeth half expected him to say something untoward, but instead he simply said, "Fine. Care to tell us our heading?" He handed her the compass. The crowd waited in anticipation as she flipped the compass open. The rose within slowly spun around. "Northeast." Gibbs nodded, though he certainly wasn't excited at the new journey. He headed to the helm, calling out orders to the other crewman. "Hoist the boarding plank, haul that anchor, and get ready to drop canvas!"

Jack snatched the compass back from Elizabeth, "My compass. When I need your direction again I'll come and find you." He sauntered off towards his cabin, leaving Elizabeth with her family. Cotton and Scrum reached for the plank behind them. But as they were beginning to haul it up, something pounded down at the bottom of it. They looked down and saw Teague standing there with a heavy boot. Without delay, he stepped up the plank and boarded the ship. Jack had just reached the door to his cabin and stopped in his tracks. He turned and saw his father standing on his ship, the plank being drawn up after him. "Don't think I'm letting you face him alone, Jackie." He said with a smile.

Jack opened his mouth to speak but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he turned his back to his father and entered his cabin. The door closed behind him.

Teague did not seem surprised or offended. He didn't react at all, in fact. He only turned toward Elizabeth who had been quietly witnessing all of it. "I'm here to keep an eye on you, King. Ye can't kill a member of your own court, and I'll see it to it ye don't break that law." Before Elizabeth could say anything in her defense he walked away, apparently going to talk to Gibbs.

"Mum, what's all this nonsense about a court?"

"I'm king of the pirates, Henry." She said. When he didn't respond, she glanced at him. "Oh, don't act so surprised. It was before your time. I did a lot of things before you were here, most of which I don't care for you to know about. Go make yourselves useful and help them lower the sails." She ordered them, though it was not her place to do so. Henry and Carina exchanged another curious look before doing as she asked. Carina hesitated to climb the ratlines and stayed close to Henry when she did finally start climbing the ropes that lead up to the sails high above. Elizabeth, meanwhile, was in dire need of solitude. She escaped below deck and headed to the deserted hammocks in the berthing space. She laid down in one and appreciated how dark it was below decks. The cargo bay was below, so she could hear people running up and down the stairs intermittently. But she was so far out of the way that nobody could see her, and she doubted anyone would be looking for her.

It occurred to her that she should have been happy to be back aboard this ship. She thought that being back on the Pearl would bring her joy. But as she sat and meditated on it, she realized how many bad memories had happened on this ship. Not only had she broken Will's heart by leaving Jack to the kraken, but she had also been kept prisoner on the ship. She had also stood on the ship and rallied the crew to fight Beckett. She had to smile at the memory. That battle was so satisfying when it had reached its conclusion. Not to mention that her marriage to Will had taken place aboard the Pearl. But mixed in the fine lines of said memories were the depressing facts. She had married Will and then he was gone. She had one the fight but at the sacrifice of him. The Black Pearl. What a bittersweet symbol for her forays into piracy.

And now? Now she was trying to come to terms with having lost Will _again_. It was difficult to avoid blaming herself. In fact, she couldn't resist the self-blame. It _was_ her fault. She should have known something was not right, should have foreseen that it was what Jones had wanted. _Good job, Elizabeth._ She thought. _Once again you are the reason you do not have Will. You always destroy what you want most._ Her mind was her worst enemy yet again. As had happened many times before, she was all alone in her agony and pain. Previously she had written letters to Will to help cope with her grief and misery, even though she knew he could not read them and provide any sort of support. It had still helped. But now what was she supposed to do?

Tears unwillingly came to life in her eyes. She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. The pressure ached, but she didn't stop until she had smashed the visible weakness away. She wondered for the millionth time in her life how she could be both so emotional and so strong. How could she survive all she had and still fall to tears? A thought came to mind, seemingly from nowhere, that emotions and strength were not mutually exclusive. Perhaps that was what made her stronger, her ability to be sensitive paired with her endurance. She decided not to dwell on it. She knew that one of the worst things she could do when she felt like this was to not move. In the past, she would garden to preserve her sanity. She decided what she needed right then was some steel. She needed to fight.

 _Meanwhile_

Henry and Carina had helped the crew of the _Pearl_ bring down the sails. Afterwards they were instructed to go help raise anchor. They joined a group of five and rotated the capstan until the anchor could be tied up. The ship sailed off toward the horizon yet again. Gibbs stayed northeast, expecting to maintain the route until Jack said otherwise. Henry and Carina were not ordered to any other task once the anchor had been raised. In fact, Gibbs recommended they get a bite from cargo to last them through the day. The young lovers did not have to be asked twice. They hurried down the stairs deep down into the cargo hold, flying past the two levels of guns and the berthing of hammocks.

The cargo hold was empty, which was precisely what both of them had been silently hoping for. Despite this, neither said a word of it. Instead, they calmly retrieved chunks of bread and an orange each from a small crate. They sat on top of one of the larger crates and ate side by side. "Do you think he's okay?" Henry asked to break the silence. Carina did not need the name to know to whom Henry was referring to, "He has come back from the dead before. I'm sure whatever Jones is up to, Will can get through it. If anybody can survive Jones, it's him."

"Fair point." Henry said as he slowly peeled his orange apart.

"I always have a fair point because I'm always right." She smiled.

He shot her a look, "Uh-huh. Except when you were wrong about ghosts and curses."

"A well-tuned clock is wrong once a day."

"Pretty sure you said that wrong." He said through a mouthful of juicy orange slices.

"And I'm pretty sure your mother would be ashamed to see you talking to a lady with your mouth full." Carina made a point to not talk with food in her mouth. Despite having been raised by overworked women in an orphanage, she had perfect manners. This was mostly to the credit of books on the subject that she had read in her youth.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Henry admitted. He made a point by not speaking until they had finished eating. Every time Carina would start to speak and he had no food in his mouth he would shovel a hunk of bread into his gob. She repeatedly looked at him with a withering sneer. He would just shrug in reply. When he was chewing the last of his bread Carina smiled, "Now you'll have to talk, you're all out of food." He swallowed the dry bread and sighed, "I didn't think that one through, did I? There must have been a better retaliation I could have chosen from." She couldn't help but laugh. "You know, you may be the stubbornest man alive."

"Get it from my mum." He said proudly.

"And your dad?"

"He's stubborn too, but it's easier to get him to give in than it is mum. Mum never gives in. Ever. Notice how she got her way when they fought on the _King_?"

"Good point."

"I always have a good point, I'm always right."

She rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored this. "So, what do you get from your father then?"

"You mean besides my devastatingly good looks?" A ridiculous grin spread across his lips. She shook her head and sighed, not bothering with a response beyond this. He conceded, "Alright, fine. I suppose the knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe just the way I love. Mum told me that dad would do the craziest things just to protect her or save her. She saved his life later too, but he was the one doing everything in his power to make her happy."

Carina blushed. The food was gone, the scraps of orange peel had been tossed to the floor to satiate the rats that always occupied any ship. The two were facing each other, their knees only about a foot apart. He reached out and brushed his hand against her cheek. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, but left his hand there on her cheek. She wondered if the warmth was noticeable to him. She suspected it was, his hand felt cool to the touch. Neither were aware that they had slowly been leaning into each other. Their eyes kept glancing down at the other's lips that now only had a breath of air between them. The young lovers were oblivious to the world. That is, until someone cleared their throat.

They both jumped in surprise and flew apart quickly. Elizabeth stood before them, having just walked down the steps, and turned to see her son and Carina looking like fools. "Gibbs said I would find you here. Didn't think it'd take you that long to eat." She was smiling mostly to herself. She remembered those days. She was almost envious of them.

"Sorry, mum. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to find Carina."

The lovers exchanged a puzzled look. "Me?" Carina asked, certain she had misheard.

"Yes, you. You need training. Henry can practice on his own, but you still don't know how to handle your own weapons."

Carina breathed a small sigh of relief. She was worried she had been about to receive a lecture. She got off the crate and agreed that now was as good a time as any to practice. The two women bade a farewell to Henry and headed all the way back up to the main deck. The crew was scattered about the ship, and they had the main deck mostly to themselves.

"Ready?" Elizabeth asked, withdrawing her intricate sword from the sheath at her hip. It was the sword she had made herself. It was her most prized possession now that the dead man's chest had been abandoned and buried.

"No." Carina said frankly. "I don't know the first thing about this, you can't expect me to be ready when I haven't even drawn a sword before."

Elizabeth reluctantly sighed and sheathed her sword once more. "Then take out your sword."

Carina slowly unsheathed the sword. It was not beautiful, but it was well balanced and light. Elizabeth had picked it out for her, knowing full well that she was a beginner. "Hold it like you're ready." Elizabeth said. Carina held it out from her body toward Elizabeth. "One hand." Was all Elizabeth remarked on. Carina unwillingly removed her left hand from the sword. It was light as far as swords go, but it was still a weight that she was very unaccustomed to.

Elizabeth circled Carina briefly before speaking, "In hand to hand it would generally be wise to keep the stance you're in: feet shoulder length apart to hold your ground. But that's not the case in fencing." She stood in front of Carina again and modelled the correct stance. She carefully adapted her stance to match it. Elizabeth nodded her approval. "Now, try and defend yourself." Quick as a hurricane, the king had retrieved her sword again and lunged toward Carina's heart. Carina did not waste time in screaming. She used her sword as an extension of her arm and hit Elizabeth's sword to the side before it could hit her or even come very close. Carina was afraid though. Elizabeth was a deadly viper. Carina wondered if she had ulterior motives.

Elizabeth had none, but she needed Carina to be afraid. Fear was what helped or hindered people. Some were stronger with it, others became distracted. She needed to know which Carina was. She continued to thrust blow after blow toward Carina, unaware that they were acquiring a crowd. Henry had reappeared from below deck and had been shocked to find his mother was already going after his lover. He wasn't sure what to do about it, but he was too scared of his mother's wrath to intervene. Teague and Cotton had paused from their work to watch curiously.

"Don't forget," Elizabeth reminded as Carina nearly missed. "Footwork is critical." Elizabeth took advantage of the fact that Carina had no idea what to do with her feet and lunged forward, sword aimed high. Carina went to dodge and tripped over Elizabeth's well placed boot. She fell down and lost the grip of her sword. It clanged down onto the deck. Their audience watched in anticipation. Elizabeth casually pointed her sword down at Carina. Carina looked up at her, no longer able to hide her fear. Elizabeth hesitated a moment longer before smiling. She sheathed her sword and held her hand out to the girl. She took it and was helped to her feet. "You're going to have a lot to practice, but you already do well under pressure and that will save your life when skill doesn't matter."

"Thank you." Carina said through heavy breaths. She was already well near exhausted, though part of that was sheer adrenaline. "Remind me to never get on your bad side." There was no doubt in her mind now that she was on Mrs. Turner's good side.

Elizabeth laughed and turned to realize several men had been watching them. "Oh."

Teague smiled. He didn't say anything as he walked away. Gibbs simply remarked, "I should have known that little girl would grow to be a fighter. Never met any girl since as fascinated with pirates."

"If I didn't know any better, Gibbs, I would say you were proud of me." Elizabeth said.

He smiled, "Something like that."

"You two know each other?" Henry asked curiously.

Gibbs didn't say anything. He just smiled and walked away. Henry was getting exhausted at finding out who his mother secretly knew. There were too many unexpected relationships and things he had not been told of.

Elizabeth turned back to Carina as their crowd dispersed, "Can you handle more?" Carina took a brief assessment of herself physically. She was tired, but she could handle more. "Yes."

"Can I help?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth looked over at her son, "Thank you Henry, but it's girl time. Go make yourself useful around the ship or watch, but don't intercept."

Henry felt jilted, but decided it was better not to argue with her. He was unsure of what use he could be to the crew that seemed to have a handle on what they were doing. He resigned himself to leaning back against the rail and watch the women spar.

"Attack me." Elizabeth said as she took her position a yard away from Carina again. Carina did not hesitate. She knew that they were not going to injure each other. Carina took a step forward and lunged her sword toward Elizabeth. Elizabeth easily dodged, not even taking out her sword. A smile spread across the king's lips. Carina continued slashing and cutting the air in front of Elizabeth, but never came close to her. At one point, she slashed a wide arc straight at Elizabeth. She bent backwards, her shoulders nearly level with her hips, and the blade flew just an inch or two above the end of her nose. She sprang back to her feet easily. Henry was smiling to himself as he watched. He could remember her doing the same to him long ago. She was a wonder when it came to avoiding attacks.

"Would you just stay still?" Carina spat out as she missed yet again. Elizabeth drew her sword quickly and slashed toward Carina. She ducked out of the way just in time. "The enemy does not stay still." Elizabeth said softly. The two started in at each other, each going in for the attack. In between the clangs of metal on metal Elizabeth would add a word of advice here and there, "Never underestimate your enemy" she would advise before whacking at the inside of Carina's wrist and making her drop her sword. "Keep your eyes on them, not their sword." She would say as she changed her attack halfway through.

Sweat was beading on both of their foreheads. Their muscles ached from the constant combat that had been sustaining them for a solid hour. Carina was a fast learner. She was mindful of footwork, how to use the weight of the sword to her advantage, when to duck and when to lunge. She managed to actually get the better of the king when Elizabeth was too busy thinking of her next move and lesson. Carina had been able to detect a flicker of distraction in Elizabeth's movements and was able to duck a hit in the nick of time and used this moment of surprise to bang Elizabeth's sword out of her hand. Without hesitation, Elizabeth swooped to the ground and grabbed the sword, holding it up defensively. But Carina was not attacking. She was panting with her sword lax at her side and a smile on her face. Elizabeth stood and sheathed her sword. "Very good." She said between breaths. She was genuinely proud of the girl.

Henry approached quietly, handing Carina his handkerchief. She took it gratefully and patted off the sweat on her head. Elizabeth wiped her sleeve across her forehead. "That was really impressive, mum. You never showed such force with me."

She laughed, "You were ten. I wasn't going to try and slaughter my ten year old son."

"Oh, but you'll slaughter your son's woman?" He said.

"First of all, she is not yours. She is her own." Elizabeth said abruptly. "Secondly, yes. She is an adult, it's less dangerous. Not to mention we don't know how soon we'll run into Jones. The faster she learns the better."

He held his hands up in defeat, "Alright, alright. I'm just saying — I wouldn't mind a training lesson from the king."

Elizabeth grinned, "You're my next then, first thing tomorrow. You still have your sword?" She asked curiously. He unsheathed it from his side and held it out to her in his hands. Sure enough, there was her name engraved on the side facing her. The side resting in his palm read his father's name. Carina stared at the sword curiously and smiled a bit. Henry raised an eyebrow at his mother as he held out his sword. She took her own out again, brandishing his name on the steel.

Carina burst out laughing. They looked at her curiously as the swords were put away. "Sorry, it's just so funny. You're a pirate family. It's just so odd."

Mother and son exchanged a look and laughed with her. It was pretty unusual that they were so strongly connected to piracy, and the swords were proof of this strange connection.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm sorry this one has taken so long to get to you! But hopefully the wait will have been worth it :)**

* * *

 _On the Dutchman_

Will's senses were slowly returning to him. He was unsure of how long he had been unconscious. He opened his eyes just a crack and saw that it was still dim below decks, as it had been before. He guessed it was still the middle of the night. Across the way he saw four men sitting on upturned barrels around a low lying table. A small lantern sat beside one of them, casting an eerie glow on their figures. He quickly shut his eyes. All it took was one man turning to see him watching for Will to be in serious trouble again. Instead of watching, he listened carefully. He heard a muffled rattling coming from their direction. Something slammed on the table. The men were not speaking initially. The first words he heard come from them were, "Two threes"

 _Liar's dice, of course_ , Will thought to himself. His tense muscles relaxed slightly. Part of him had secretly worried that the men had been plotting their next method of torture. But despite his relative ease, he still concentrated on the crew's conversation. It was impossible to hear anything else.

"Four threes. Y'reckon Jones is gonna kill the whelp?"

"Five fours. Nah, Jones is after Sparrow, not the git. He's probably just bait."

"Five fours? Liar!" The conversation was interrupted by some groans and the sound of gold pieces being exchanged reluctantly. The rattling of the die in their cups sounded again. They thudded down synchronously and the conversation resumed. "Why ye think he's after Sparrow anyway? Oh, two twos."

"Well, way I heard it, he's going at him for revenge. Three fours."

"Revenge for what, turning him into a squid?" All of them busted out laughing. Between the laughter the crewman added, "Four twos."

"No, I heard he looks like that 'cause of some sea witch."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that too."

"And y'know how he used to use this ship to bring dead folk to the other side?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Apparently Sparrow saved 100 slaves from being claimed by Jones. That's what he's after him for, or at least that's what I s'pect."

"Regardless of what y'spect, it's your bleeding turn." One of them said bitterly.

"Fer yer information," A new, deeper voice resonated as something clattered to the ground. "That is not the whole story." Jones declared to the suddenly quiet crewman. Without opening his eyes, Will had to assume that the men's game had been thrown to the floor and Jones had appeared from nowhere as he often did. "My duty was to ferry souls, as bid to me by the sea goddess herself. A good many of these souls had been slaves dying en route to their destinations. Cutler Beckett's ships usually had several casualties, in fact. But when Jack Sparrow was tasked with bringing slaves to the Caribbean by Beckett, he betrayed him. Freed all one hundred of them to a little island called Kerma. Beckett had Sparrow's beloved ship set on fire and Sparrow nearly drowned trying to save his ship. That's when he called for me. He feared his death, but he feared the death of his ship more. He pleaded for me to raise that damned ship up from the depths for him and spare him for thirteen years. After thirteen years he would be mine and serve on my ship for a century. Well, as you doubtlessly know, he betrayed this oath and evaded answering to it by getting himself rescued from the Locker by his loyal crew." From the shift of his voice, Will could tell Jones was watching him. Why he was bothering to reveal the truth with Will in ear shot was beyond him.

"But fret not gents, I will not be having him joining our crew any time soon. No. Jack Sparrow has been a thorn in my side for too long. I came back to this world, and I will not leave it again until Jack Sparrow is dead, mark my words." There was a moment of silence before he grumbled, "I don't pay you fools to play games. Get to work." A soft whisper of noise indicated he had vanished into the ship again and the crew scrambled to task.

Will shut the world out to reflect on what he had overheard. It seemed all too likely he was going to be used as leverage for capturing Jack. He doubted it would work at all. It had been twenty years since he had seen Jack Sparrow, and he doubted if he would even recognize him anymore, let alone be willing to give himself up for Will. It reassured him that Jones' plans would likely fall through, but he wondered what the consequence of a failed plan would mean for him. Probably an untimely death. He sighed and desperately wished to be back with his wife.

 _On the Black Pearl_

The sun was rising over the horizon, Elizabeth watching from stern of the ship. Only Cotton and a few others were awake at this point. Elizabeth had not been able to sleep at all, so she had spent most of the night watching the horizon. She was wishing for Will throughout the night, and praying for his safe return to her. Her mouth was dry. It had been some twelve hours since she had opened her mouth to speak. The crew had left her alone while she stood at the stern all night. Henry had noticed, but knew better than to bother her and had warned Carina to leave her be as well. It should not have come as a surprise to her that the first person to interrupt her trance was Jack.

She had her back to the rest of the ship and had been immensely startled when someone had touched her. She had jumped in her skin and her hand had automatically gone toward the hilt of her sword at her side. "Oh, relax." Jack remarked as she turned to face him. She immediately rolled her eyes and turned back to the sea, letting go of her sword. "What do you want?" Her voice cracked halfway through, weak from lack of use.

"Directions, if you please." Jack said, holding his compass out in the palm of his hand.

She looked back over at him, glancing down at the closed compass. She smiled and turned back to the sea, "Since when does Jack Sparrow say 'please'?"

Jack smirked and his tone shifted, "Would you rather I just demand? Or simply beg?"

Elizabeth turned around quickly and snatched the compass from his hand, "Twenty years and you still feel the need to be persistently obscene." She flipped the compass open and concentrated her thoughts toward Will. The compass rose spun around once before slowing itself and showing the way. Jack peered over at the compass, muttering, "As if you don't find the behavior charming." She went to give him a nasty look but he had turned to assure Cotton they were on course. She closed the compass again and shoved it at Jack's chest before storming off. The captain followed her without missing a beat. "You know what they say, love: opposites attract."

"I would stop now if I were you." She suggested, not looking back at him.

"Why? Don't tell me you've suddenly grown immune to my charm."

"Alright, keep pushing it. See what happens."

"Oh I'd gladly keep pushing it in—"

Elizabeth unsheathed her sword and spun to face him in the blink of an eye. She extended the sword to meet his chest. Jack grabbed his gun from his side and pointed it to her. He was grinning, a look of laughter in his eyes. She was frowning, a look of loathing in her eyes. "You should know I only deigned to be here to save Will. I didn't have to warn you of Jones, but this is the only ship that can outrun him."

"And what use would it be if you killed me?"

"Pretty sure I can captain this ship as well as you can."

"Ah, but you forget, Miss Swann —"

" _Mrs. Turner_ —"

"My crew are loyal to me, not to you. So you might want to reconsider killing their most beloved, Captain Jack Sparrow. Take a look around you." He said, his own eyes flicking over to the crowd that had amassed. Teague was watching curiously while nearly everyone else, Henry and Carina included, were watching on in horror. "You think it's a good idea to kill me?"

"Perhaps not." She admitted. Her arm slacked, and eventually fell to her side. But Jack still held his gun. "But what good would shooting me do? Will would find you and tear you apart."

Jack laughed as he put his gun away, "Not likely. That poor boy has never been able to best me in a fight his whole life, and twenty years won't change that." The majority of the crowd dispersed as they saw that there was no longer a threat of imminent danger to their captain.

"He certainly could if I hold you down." Henry remarked bitterly as he walked toward Jack. "If you ever lay a hand on my mother, I will see to it that you have no hands left."

"That's awful dark coming from you, mate." Jack remarked with a laugh. "I don't think you have the guts."

Henry got close to Jack, his rage evident on his face, "Do you want to test that?"

Jack shrugged nonchalantly, "Eh, not today. Your breath stinks, by the way." He said calmly, stepping to the side and walking around Henry back toward Elizabeth. She looked up at him expectantly and he looked her over once before commenting, "You're not really worth the effort any more, are you?"

This brought a rare smile to her face, "No, no I'm not. I've literally killed you and you still do not get the hint. You have no claim over me, and you never will."

The captain sighed and rolled his eyes slightly, "Oh, alright. But only because I don't want to end up a eunuch like your dearly beloved." And with that final comment, Jack Sparrow left them, heading toward the helm.

"What was that all about?" Henry accused, his tone of anger still present.

"That man has been trying to claim me like a prize for too long." Elizabeth half explained, "When we find your father, you aren't to tell him a word about it. It'll only make him angry."

"Why? You told him off." Carina interjected.

Elizabeth shook her head, "That's not the point. It would just bring up … very unpleasant memories for him. He'll have been through enough by the time we find him."

"Do you know how close we are to finding him?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth shook her head, "I'm sure Jack has some idea of where we are, but none of us know where the Dutchman is. We'll know we're there when we see it on the horizon, I suppose."

"So, it could be awhile?"

"I'm sorry Henry," Elizabeth sympathized, "It may be longer still, but we will find him. You know I won't rest until we do." She meant it quite literally.

"I know. But, at least try to get some rest. I'll wake you if we see the Dutchman." Henry assured her. He was worried for his mother's health, especially given the deep bags under her eyes. Her shoulders relaxed, "I suppose you're right. If you catch me above deck, just shoot me."

Henry laughed and nudged her towards the steps leading below deck, "I'll just send you back to bed. Now go."

"Fine, I'm going." Elizabeth relented, finally heading below decks to catch up on sleep.

Henry sighed as he walked back toward Carina, "Think she'll actually sleep?" Carina just shrugged, not looking at him. She put her hands in her pockets and glanced at the horizon. Nothing was coming, they were surrounded by nothing but the open sea. "What's wrong?"

"It's been two nights since we left that ship. It could have gotten anywhere. We were in Tortuga for hours on end. The Dutchman could logistically be anywhere. I doubt if we're going to find Will. And even if we do, he might already be dead." Carina said frankly.

Henry stared at her, unsure of how to respond. When several moments passed without a reply, she turned to look at him. When she looked at him, he started to laugh. "What's the matter?" She asked, not understanding his amusement at all.

"It's not that great of a joke, but I figured I should humor you."

"I wasn't joking."

His expression soured, "No. No. You have to be. You cannot possibly think that my father is dead. After all we did, there is just no way."

"Henry, wanting something to be true and the actual truth are two different things. Logically, it's entirely possible that he has been killed. In the very least, I don't think we are going to find him."

"But we're using Jack's compass. We're going to find him."

"That compass defies all logic. It must have a bad magnetic pull and move around too easily. It just doesn't add up." Carina said as she folded her arms and her tone darkened.

Henry began to sour, "Logic does not have a place in this conversation."

"Logic belongs in all arguments."

"Not when most of our lives have been affected by magic and powers that defy all of your logic and science." Henry spat back. "I don't understand how you can be so dire and pessimistic about this. How dare you assume my father is dead! How would you feel if —"

"If someone told me that my father was dead? Well, don't worry about that, Henry. I already got to watch him die."

"I didn't mean —" But before Henry could finish his thought Carina had stormed off, saying simply, "Just leave me alone."

Henry watched her go. He had no idea how that had escalated so quickly. He had not meant to make such a mistake as to bring up the death of her father. But he was still outraged at her for assuming the absolute worst — _his_ father's death. He watched as she headed up the ratlines toward the crow's nest. He knew he had made her really upset if she was willing to sit up there despite her dislike of the height. He watched her, desperately hoping she would look down at him, but she didn't. She simply climbed up into the nest and disappeared from view.

"Troubled?"

Henry jumped slightly in surprise and looked over to see Jack standing by him with a bottle of rum in his hand. "I suppose I am." Henry admitted.

Jack handed him the bottle of booze, "Here, try this."

Henry wondered how bad he had to feel to accept alcohol from the alcoholic pirate. He reflected on just how terrible he felt for what he had said before holding the bottle to his lips and taking a long swallow. It tasted foul. He was pretty sure it was more than just rum, but he was not going to complain. He tried to hand the bottle back to Jack, but he waved it away, "You need it more than me."

"Concerning, but probably true." Henry admitted, taking another swig of the alcohol.

"Still having female troubles I see?"

"I never had troubles with her before, Jack."

"Really? Could've fooled me with the bickering and arguing."

"That wasn't a problem, that was just how we … talked, I guess." Henry had a hard time explaining how their banter was usually playful in nature. Instead of trying to put it into words that Jack might be able to understand, he took another swig of the alcohol. He had never actually had alcohol prior to this. He had avoided it when he had been in the Navy, despite the ease of access. He had seen too many drunken men kill or nearly kill themselves. But he figured that, in the very least, it might ease the nerves rattling in his mind.

"Care for some advice from dear old Jackie?"

Henry glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow, "I have watched you make some of the worst decisions of your life, and you want me to take advice from you?"

Jack smiled, "Oh you thought that was bad? Son, you don't know much about me yet, but making mistakes is pretty much what I do for a living."

"None of that is encouraging me to seek your advice." Henry pointed out.

"Ah, but who else is going to give you advice about it?"

"My mother?" Henry said, implying how blatantly obvious the answer was.

"Oh, tosh. What does she know? She lost her husband not once, but _twice_. Not to mention all of her other admirers ended up dead. Do you want to end up dead lad?"

"What? No! What are you talking about? What do you mean other admirers?" Henry was completely confused by what Jack was implying.

"Well, good, lemme give you a tip." Jack started, throwing an arm around Henry and walking him across the deck. He completely ignored Henry's attempts to direct the conversation back to what Jack had said about his mother. "When a girl disagrees with you, you're supposed to immediately change your mind and agree with them."

"But that would be lying."

"Lying is a man's bread and butter, son. How do you think I get by?"

"Rum?" Henry suggested before taking another drink of it for himself.

"Rum and lies, precisely." Jack smiled wickedly. "Can you prove me wrong? She disagreed with you, didn't she?"

"Yes, she said my father was probably dead or lost forever."

"And you argued back?"

"Yes."

"And where are you right now?"

Henry sighed, "Walking around with a bottle of rum next to you. Which probably isn't a good thing, now that I think of it."

Rather than being insulted, Jack seemed delighted. "See? Had you just agreed with her, nothing would have happened, and you'd still be on your merry way."

"But I can't lie, Jack. I don't agree that my father is dead or missing. I refuse to ever believe such a thing. You don't believe her do you?" Henry said as he sat on the stair up to the helm, nursing his bottle further still.

"Of course not, but that's besides the point. The point is that you have to side with whatever a woman says or she won't lay an eye on you for ages."

"Well, as wondrous as you claim your advice to be, it's not going to help me now that she's angry with me. What am I supposed to do to get her to talk to me again?"

Jack shrugged, "I usually just beg forgiveness."

"I've nothing to apologize for though." Henry pointed out, handing the bottle of rum back to Jack. He had drank a quarter of it and felt looser in his limbs, but felt his mental capacities were in good functioning order.

"That's where you're wrong, mate. The sooner you figure that out, the better off you'll be." Jack said dismissively before taking a long drink of his rum again. Henry shook his head and walked away from the drunk captain. He walked to the other end of the ship, hoping to clear his head. He did not notice his mother had reappeared on deck.

She had been unsuccessful in trying to rest, as she had expected. She immediately walked toward the port side of the ship and looked over the rail at the horizon. Still no sight of the Dutchman. Her disappointment was evident on her face. She felt a nudge on her arm and looked over to her right. Jack was holding out his bottle of rum for her, his face expressionless. She took the bottle and took a small nip of it. It was disgusting, but then again, it always was. Jack leaned his back against the rail beside her.

"Come to bother me again?" She asked matter-of-factly.

"No, just thought you should know the lovebirds are quarreling."

Elizabeth looked at Jack in surprise and glanced around for her son. He was brooding on the other end of the ship. "Where's Carina?" Jack pointed up and Elizabeth's gaze followed to see a telescope poking out of the crow's nest. "Oh, wonderful."

"Could be worse. She could have killed him."

"When are you going to let it go? You know it was the only option."

Jack smiled, "Oh, I let it go long ago. It's just fun to annoy you."

Elizabeth couldn't help but roll her eyes, "It's only fun for you."

"Your point?"

"Let me guess, you tried to either woo Carina like the perverted old man you really are or you gave Henry some terrible counsel?"

Jack appeared to be miffed by the comment, "I am not perverted." She gave him a knowing look. "I'm a man that knows what he wants, that's all." He sniffed loudly and crossed his arms, "And as a matter of fact, it was the latter. I tried to help him out and tell him to apologize to her and to be more agreeable."

"What exactly happened between them?" Elizabeth asked, sipping the rum once more before passing it back to the captain.

"Not sure. Something about Will. That man manages to cause trouble even when he isn't around."

"Yeah, so do you." She smiled, "Don't we all?"

"Fair enough." He acknowledged before taking another healthy drink. He took out his compass and handed it to her again. "For old time's sake, what's it saying?"

She held the compass in her hands, unsure of what he was expecting. She had opened it only an hour before, it probably would not have dramatically changed directions. She looked over at Jack. His expressions on any given day usually ranged from cocky to drunk to smug. But this was a look she was not familiar with. He looked sincere. It was almost impossible for her to recognize on him. She tried to digest his words and had a bad feeling she knew what he wanted her to open the compass for. "Jack, it's not going to—"

"Just open it." He said patiently.

Elizabeth sighed and slowly opened the lid to the compass and watched as the arrow quickly navigated away toward the bow of the ship, right at the horizon. "It's still him. It will always point to him. He has always been what I want most." She said truthfully, her voice just above a whisper. She shut the compass. He held out his hand. She placed it there. The compass rested between their hands, but her fingertips brushed his palm. She looked up at him, "I'm sorry, Jack. But you know it's a bad idea."

"Aye." Was all he said.

She sighed and turned away, her hand falling back to her side. Jack watched her go for a moment before pocketing his compass and walking away with his bottle held to his lips again.

Elizabeth walked to her son, coming up behind him. He was staring at the figures of the mermaids with their tridents on the back of the ship. "I heard something happened with Carina. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Weren't you supposed to be resting?" He countered.

"I'm not very good at relaxing. Now, out with it. What happened?" She prodded, not letting him get away with trying to change the subject. He eventually let loose the details of his spat with Carina. He was working himself into a right fuss talking about it. Elizabeth could easily see how distressed the whole thing was making her son. When he had finally finished detailing his heartache and misery, Elizabeth took a moment to process it before she added her two pieces, "Why does it upset you so much?"

He seemed completely befuddled by this, "Because she doubts us."

"But why does what she thinks of it matter to you?"

"Because …" He paused and seemed to reflect on this for a few moments. He sighed deeply, "Because _she_ matters to me."

"Carina is strong headed. She has her convictions and she sticks to them, you know this. You have to give her a reason to have faith in you, to have faith in what you believe in and care about." Elizabeth reminded him gently.

He looked over at his mother and a slow smile spread across his face. He turned and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around her young son, trying not to recognize the fact that he was taller than her.

"Ship off the port bow!" Carina's voice came screeching from above them, interrupting their relative peace.

Parent and child split apart in surprise and rushed over to said port bow, leaning over the rail and looking out. Sure enough, they were approaching an island. _The King_ was anchored at its shore and _the Dutchman_ was heading away from the island straight toward _the Pearl_.


End file.
